Recently in Recommendations Category

Inspired by Owen Philipson's podcast reviews I thought I'd post up some of my recommended listens.

At the moment there's only three cycling podcasts that I listen to with any regularity: The Bike Show from Resonance FM, Real Peloton and Velocast.

I spend my working day listening to some of the best speech broadcasters currently available in the UK, so my listening time outside work is valuable to me. These podcasts are recommended entirely on their merits as "a worthwhile listen".

First up, The Bike Show from Resonance FM. I've appeared on the show a couple of times and can testify that Jack Thurston knows his ways around a studio and the fine art of constructing an interview.

But the real joy of the Bike Show is its catholicism. It's from the Bike Show that I learned about Major Taylor and countless other parts of the church of cycling that are otherwise neglected by the mainstream. It's a beautiful reminder of the simple pleasure of just riding your bike for no other reason than because it's fun.

It was one of the first bike podcasts I discovered and has stayed in my subscription list while several others have come and gone. It retains a freshness of subject and delivery that makes it stand out from the crowd.

Jack is also one of the most watchful eyes on cycling issues as they affect London cyclists like myself.

Velocast is a more recent discovery. Initially I'd shied away from it on grounds of duration. When you spend eight to ten hours a day listening to speech radio, another hour out of the day is a big commitment for me. I've now addressed my commitment issues and I'm thoroughly enjoying a well made podcast that has its own distinct character.

It covers racing, bike geekery, components and riding in general with a wit and humour that is derived from its presenting duo, John and Scott. There's good analysis of issues and a no nonsense approach to discussing thorny subjects.

I've only been listening for a few editions but it's definitely a grower and broad enough to hold the attention of a wider audience.

Finally, Real Peloton which is Matt Rendell and Ned Boulting putting together a very fine half hour or so of banter, discourse and intelligent comment on professional cycling.

You'd expect that from two experienced broadcasters, but what they've done well is avoided letting their gobs run unfettered in the final product. You get a bit of philosophy, you get a bit of opinion and you get decent interviews with people with something useful to say.

You never feel short-changed on something useful with Real Peloton. The shame is that podcasts are difficult to monetise as this would be a proper breadwinner if it were to be sold in the same way that it would be as a built programme to a traditional broadcaster.

And the one's that I don't listen to?

Anything that is too long, too boring, too uninformative. It's a bloody long list and there's some names on there that really should have a look at themselves. I'm not going to link to them because they don't merit it.

Here's a couple that I think deserve special criticism.

Cyclingnews: Yes podcasts are meant to be a bit off-the-cuff but this is the equivalent of wearing a short-sleeved shirt under a suit. No big interviews, no big insight? Fail.

Guardian: You know all those reasons people give for disliking "cyclists"? They've managed to put almost all of them into podcast form. How do they manage to take all the fun out of riding a bike?

One of the joys of the internet age is that publishing is so swift and global that I can read stuff from news sources that I might never have known about. For example, The Oregonian is unlikely to be on the news stands of West London, but its internet presence oregonlive.com is available in my living room.

Which is good for me as it means I can read the excellent Freewheeling with Chris Horner blog on their site.

Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer have nicknamed him "the redneck" I think on account of his love of big trucks and motocross but it does him a massive disservice as he's pretty literate for a redneck. Indeed the insight he gives into being a pro rider is among the best out there.

He's currently riding the Vuelta where it looks like he's going to be given a chance to stretch his legs and see whether he can rediscover the form he was enjoying at the Giro earlier this year before yet another twist of misfortune saw him out with injury yet again.

You can also catch him on twitter at twitter.com/hornerakg

And while I'm mentioning cycling blogs worth reading, you should check out 6 Years In A Rain Cape which is written by Joe Parkin, author of A Dog in a Hat and a former professional himself.

You can catch him on twitter as well at twitter.com/joeparkin

And you can buy A Dog in a Hat on Amazon, it's subtitled "An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium" which gives you at least four good reasons to buy it (your reasons may vary).

PS. I've still not scored a point, despite a fantastic "death or glory" effort with two laps to go which held off the bunch for a lap or so. Was too far back to get involved in the bunch sprint and sat up when someone got spooked and locked it up in front of me.

If you're following the Giro D'Italia then in my opinion there really is one writer who you have to read: Juliet Macur of The New York Times. In our house she's the first report we read when looking for perspective on what's happening.

You can read her work on The New York Times site or subscribe to her RSS feed. She's also on twitter where you can follow her at twitter.com/julietmacur.

What I love is that her style is precise, informative and understated. It's the sort of punchy news style that I struggle to do and which there is not enough of these days.

The other writers I'd recommend are riders.

You can read Freewheeling with Chris Horner on Oregon Live. I'd skip past the bits not written by Chris as they're not the best bit. Horner's view from inside the Astana camp, and of riding alongside Lance Armstrong is packed with the little of nuggets of information that could only come from a rider: the routines, the mood on the road, the expectations and the unity of a team.

Ted King of Cervelo Test Team is one of two riders writing Giro diaries for Velonews.com. King's witty, goofy and suitably informal which makes a nice counterpoint to the more earnest formality of Columbia's Michael Barry. You can read both in the Velonews.com/diaries section. You can also follow Ted on twitter at iamtedking.

One thing that I've just noticed about Ted King's pieces is that they are filed from a blackberry which just shows how times have moved on. It's an idea device for this sort of writing from the field and so portable that it's almost the case that a reporter shouldn't need much more to file copy and pictures.

I'm not writing about my racing this week as it was dispiriting at best. My legs are going before my lungs which isn't the way it usually happens.

Quick note that there's still entries going for the Women's race at the Smithfield Nocturne. The bigger the field the better the race so if you are a woman who races and are even contemplating it, get your name on the start sheet. Sign up now at http://www.nocturneseries.com/smithfield/elitewomen.php

Here's another batch of five, available from amazon.co.uk and currently on my iPod (other mp3 players are available).

Today's ride was punctuated by a puncture and coffee so not the most profitable but I'm still gradually working my way towards the very distant goal of "being race fit".

Right now I'm currently distracting myself from writing work with a very interesting interview with Michael Ashenden on NY Velocity which seems to me to be a very large cat among the pigeons. It covers the usual topics you'd expect him to cover, in particular Lance Armstrong and EPO, but in more depth than I've seen many other articles go into, notably on the 1999 samples and the information around how EPO positives are analysed. I'm only half way through it as I type so you can read the article in full on nyvelocity.com.

I recently posted about some of the issues when it comes to buying a woman's bike and how frustrating my girlfriend was finding it. Great response to it from readers on the issues as well.

Today I can announce that she is the very happy owner of the Bianchi that she had set her mind to getting. And it's thanks to Geoffrey Butler Cycles in Croydon.

Not only did they have the bike in stock and held onto it for her for over a week while we tried to find the time to make the trip across town (3 different trains to get there, taking around an hour and a bit) but when we got there they were helpful, attentive to her needs as the customer and delivered a good experience for her as a first time buyer. The first of those is obvious enough but the other two might need some explaining.

By taking me along there was the risk that I could have got in the way and suggested things that might not have been entirely helpful. I know what I think she needs to buy, but is that the same thing as what she does need to buy? Possibly not, which is why it was great that while the guy (apologies for forgetting his name) serving us listened to what I had to say, he focused on why my girlfriend was saying more closely.

I remembered to bring along the Shimano M324 Combination Pedals I'd bought her ages ago and we got them fitted. I might have picked up a few shoes to suggest but it wasn't me who sensibly suggested a pair of Specialized Road Shoes which mean she can now upgrade to any three-bolt road pedal she likes when she wants to move on from the SPD fitting on those pedals. They were also considerably less costly than any other pair of shoes she owns.

It's been said of the bike trade that it doesn't traditionally cater for the needs of women, something which was confirmed by what we we've seen and heard about the availability of clothing and accessories for women, but the quality of service at GB Cycles was totally contradictory to that received wisdom. My girlfriend is now happy to make the trip round to Croydon again if we need anything because it was such a positive experience.