Bradley Wiggins Interview

The excitement and anticipation is building ahead of the start of the Tour de France this coming Saturday in Rotterdam.

Bradley Wiggins will be one of the few riders taking part who stand a change of a place on the podium in Paris, three weeks later, on 25th July.

Here is a recent interview with a very relaxed Wiggins who apart from talking about his Tour preparations tells us about his amazing guitar collection as well as his passion for boxing.

Bradley Wiggins Custom TDF Prologo Saddle

Bradley Wiggins will be sporting this cool Mod inspired customised saddle during the Tour de France.  Wicked mate!

Joe Papp Interview

Joe Papp Interview from Phil Anderson on Vimeo

Here's an insightful, thought provoking and somewhat tragic interview with American ex-professional road racing cyclist Joe Papp.

If only all pro cyclists could be as honest as Joe. I wish him all the best for his future.

Tour Of California - Part 2

Here's part 2 of a behind the scenes look at the Cervelo Test Team at this years Amgen Tour of California.

Drawings From American Flyers

The above images were created by Steve of www.velopaint.com.  To see more of his great work click here.

The Cannibal

Portrait of Eddy Merckx seen at the Cycling Tips blog.

Understanding The Tours Early Appeal

I'm reading a very interesting book at the moment called Uphill Battle - Cycling's Great Climbers by Owen Mulholland.  In a brief section of the book Mulholland theories as to the reason for the Tour de France's early mass appeal, in the early part of last century when the Tour was much less of a spectacle than it is today.  Below is an excerpt from the book where Mulholland outlines his reasoning:

The key to its appeal, of course, was the Tour's ability to galvanise the imagination.  Imagination has always played a big role in the collective Gallic psyche.  To cite one of the most innumerable possibilities, if you'd been a good paysan struggling with the soil in the neighbourhood of Vézelay in 1146, you'd have noticed a large crowd streaming into town and climbing to the church on the top of the hill to hear some guy named St.Bernard make an impassioned speech about everyone dropping their farm implements and saying goodbye to their families in order to go on an enormous trek of unimaginable difficulty and duration to fight some total strangers who were supposedly doing not nice things to certain holy sites in a nebulous place called the Holly Land.  At the very least one would think there might have been some inquiries about the technical implementation of such a project.  But accounts of witnesses record no hesitation.  The "grandeur" of the project galvanised those present, and off they went, most never to return.


Projects such as the Crusades and wars of colonisation have given national dream states a bad name, but the genius of something like the Tour de France is that it can take these same elemental desires for a huge noble mission, full of danger and grandiosity and heroism and "we're special", and harness these truly profound human sentiments in a way that satisfies them while not destroying the society that produces them.  The society itself, by sponsoring such an enterprise, grows to a higher level of civilisation as an appreciation of every aspect of existence is enhanced.


Certainly Henri Desgrange, the father of the Tour de France, saw his baby performing this type of function, and it was from this order of concern that he based his decisions regarding how best it should be run.

A review of the book will follow shortly but if the above excerpt has wetted your appetite the book is available from Urban Hunter for £22.95 plus worldwide shipping.

Nasu: Summer In Andalusia

I know I should be posting stuff related to the Tour de France, only ten days and counting! However, I found this rather intriguing 47 minute movie yesterday all about the Vuelta a España. It's intriguing because it's Japanese aninimated with an underlying theme about aubergine (eggplant) running thorugh it! Make of it what you will but it's originality can't be denied.

TDF 2010

Seen here.

TDF: Who Should I Support?

Seen here.

For larger image click here.

Sights From The Nocturne

Although it was chilly for mid-June, last Saturday evening's Smithfield Nocturne was very entertaining and well worth the visit.  Below are a few images Betty took during the event.  You can find out more about her work by visiting www.bettybhandari.com.

The gentlemen take it easy after having participated in the folding bike race. (What a very fetching pink skirt suit too)

Me busting a gut rolla racing at the Rollapaluza stand.  I won my race, just, in a time of 25.4 seconds.  Slow considering I posted a time of 22.56 seconds back in 2007.  They say one loses fast twitch muscle as they get older although I put my reduction in speed down to the beer I'd drank just minutes before.

The audience await the next race and no that isn't a new design for bike parking.

Ever seen current British road champ Kristian House riding in an ice cream bicycle race?  You have now.

Kristian and his teammates warm up in preperation for the elite race.

I don't know who this dude is warming up but I like his hat.

Wheel porn.

The elite races whizz past us.

Attack!

The image above is the work of my good friend Richard Lee from the Cycling Art blog.  You will know if you follow his blog that his knowledge and passion for road racing and it's history is second to none.  His art is a coming together of these influences and his creative talent. The outcome is the production of unique and collectable artwork usually produced in limited numbers.

Here is what Richard has to say about this work:

The linoleum sheet is cut by hand, inked and printed individually, so every print is slightly different. I use water base ink on acid free, heavy weight, 140 lb. 300 gsm Strathmore cold press natural white watercolor paper.

The paper measures about 10” X 12 1/2" and the image is 5 7/8” X 7 3/4".

Ready for framing. Shipped flat with foam core backing in a protective envelope.

If your interested in purchasing Attack! click here or visit his online shop at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cyclingart.

Dial-A-Denial

Seen at Cyclocosm.com.

Tour Of California - Part 1

This short documentary takes a behind the scenes look at the Cervélo Test Team during their participation in North Americas most prestigious tour, the Amgen Tour of California.

I love these Cervélo documentary's, everyone one of them is quality.

The Heat Is On

"The Heat is On" from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.
A clip from a film about womens road racing in the USA.

19th June - Regent's Park Loop

It was just me out this morning. I had to use all my powers of self motivation to get my arse out the front door. I dislike riding by myself. I'm glad I made the effort though. I headed down to Regent's Park in central London to do loops of the park. Although it's the least inspiring of rides, one is guaranteed to meet up with other like-minded riders as was the case today.

I started off riding a few loops by myself, a perfect opportunity to work on my form on the bike. Stuff like pushing the belly in toward the top tube in order to straighten the back, legs straight up and down, obvious I know but I have a tendency to touch the top tube with my left knee even though my fitting was supposed to erradicate it. A bad habit and bad form. Tried to keep the hands and shoulders relaxed on the top of the bars or the hoods, again for me, easy said than done.

After a while I started working with three or four other riders, all of us had set out solo that morning but soon formed a pace line together. I sat in alot but took a pull on the front from time to time, when I thought I could.

In the end I managed to achieve my highest average speed of the year so far albeit without any hills. Still compared to previous trips to Regent's Park it certainly looks like I'm improving. It's good timing too, with a cycling trip to Wales coming up and the Dunwich Dynamo too later in July. It also helps that I've shed a few kilos although that has alot to do with running six days out of seven and trying not to eat too much junk.  I've also got half and full marathons on the horizon to think about.  All good though.

Beers at the Smithfield Nocturne this evening will be well deserved.  I'll be wearing my Gruppetto hat.

Victoria Pendleton

I missed this image of Britain's Olympic and world champion track star Victoria Pendleton when it first came out, so here it is!  Vicky's looking very fine with her Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's look.  I have to say the bread isn't nearly as tasty.

'Legends Of The Tour' Volume 2

Here are more humorous images of some of cyclings past greats from animator and illustrator Richard Mitchelson.  Check out other work from Richard, featured here, by clicking on the links below:

Animated Eddy
The Greatest Show on Earth
Tête de la Course
Tour de France 1989
One Day in July

You can also visit his blog for even more great work here.

Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories

I’ve just finished reading Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories.  The author of the book Les Woodland delved deep into his knowledge and research and in doing so has produced a light hearted look at the world of cycle racing through the ages.

As the name of the book suggests, it is made up of 50 stories, all told in bit size chunks of not more than a few pages each.  The silly and absurd tales are taken from a broad range of time spanning the last 100 years.  They also cover most types of cycling racing from the track, classics and tours.

The book contains stories that appeal to everyone’s tastes.  One of my particular favourites is the story of Adolphe Steines who worked with Tour de France director Henri Desgrange in the offices of L’Auto, the publication that, back in the early part of the twentieth century, organised and ran the Tour under Desgrange’s watchful eye.

Up until 1909 the Tour hadn’t featured any major mountain climbs, it wasn’t thought possible.  Steines had the idea of broadening the horizons of the Tour arguing with Desgrange to include the mountainous area of the Pyrenees in the south which borders with Spain.  At first Desgrange thought Steines was joking but eventually relented, on the condition Steines personally visit the area to find suitable roads the race could pass through.  Steines was despatched a short time later, in January no less, at a time when most if not all the mountain passes were covered in snow.

Steines successfully navigated his way over the Aubisque with the next objective being the Tourmalet.  He was driven part of the way up but the driver thought Steines mad to go any further and agreed to meet him on the other side.  This left Steines, the city man, in his fine city clothes traipsing through the snow and cold over nothing more than a mule track in the dark of the night.  He did manage to summit the peak and started descending the other side before being found, freezing cold, by a rescue party.

After a long sleep and undeterred by his ordeal Steines pencilled a telegram back to Desgrange in Paris, it read:

Have crossed Tourmalet, stop. Very good road, stop. Perfectly feasible.

Desgrange took Steines word resulting in four famed cols, the Peyresourde, Aubisque, Aspin and of course the Pyrenees highest mountain pass the Tourmalet being included in the 1910 Tour.

These mountains have featured in the Tour many times since with both the Aubisque and Tourmalet being used in the upcoming 2010 edition.

This was one of the many hugely enjoyable tales to feature in Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories.  I wanted to give a flavour of the book here and know I’ve told, in brief, one of the stories although Woodland, of course, has a far better knack than I at recounting an anecdote resulting in an easy and humorous read from start to finish.

To find out more about Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories click here or visit McGann Publishing at www.mcgannpublishing.com.

Everyday South Africans And Their Bicycles

All the above images were taken by either Stan Engelbrecht or Nic Grobler as part of their bicycle portraits project. They're trying to raise enough funds to turn this project into a self-published, full-colour, hard-cover photographic book with the intention of shooting the entire project from their own bicycles while travelling around the their home country of South Africa.

For further information on their project click here or visit their site at www.dayonepublications.com/Bicycle_Portraits/Index.html.

Big Crash At Tour de Suisse

Yesterdays finish in stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse ended in victory for veteran sprinter Alessandro Petacchi who narrowly missed a major crash close to the finish line in Wettingen.  Mark Cavendish took a line that cut across the other riders as he opened up the throttle causing him to touch wheels with Heinrich Haussler resulting in both riders crashing as well as bringing down other riders including Tom Boonen and Gerald Ciolek.

The Tour de Suisse race jury have held cavendish responsible and fined him for 'changing his line, putting his colleagues in danger and causing an accident'.  Judging by what I've seen on the movie clip I'd have to agree with the jury on that one.

Cavendish, Boonen and Ciolek escaped major injury, suffering only cuts and bruising while Haussler suffered a deep wound to his left elbow and had to abandon the race.  Haussler will now try to recuperate ahead of the Tour de France next month.  Frenchman Arnaud Coyot came off worst with a fractured radius and scaphoid in his left wrist after flipping over the handlebars at high speed.

Check out in the slow motion section of the clip below how Cavendish's front wheel completely folds in half before springing back into position!



A patched up Cav after yesterdays collision... Sprinting isn't for the faint hearted, ouch!

Nite Rider Cap

I was so happy with my Gruppetto hat purchase that I decided to extend my growing collection of cycling caps by investing in another Galstudio creation, the Nite Rider cap (as pictured above).  Unlike the Gruppetto cap the Nite Rider cap is made of a thinner fabric making it perfect for riding through those all too frequent summer showers, without it being too warm.  There is elastic in the back of the cap which means an excellent fit even for a big head like mine!  Again the service was excellent with a delivery time of around five days.  As I said before, not bad considering the journey from Vancouver Canada to London UK.

Check out Galstudio for a wide range of cool cycling caps and other cycling inspired delights!

Smack Talk

12th June - London To Brighton

It was Phil and I on our ride to the seaside today. The sun made plenty of appearances giving us pretty much perfect weather conditions, not to hot, not to cold. Our average speed didn't break any records but then we got lost a couple of times and had to stop plenty of times to ask directions, all part of the ride and very enjoyable it was too. I have to say I was first up to the top of Ditchling Beacon although props to Phil who wasn't feeling too good but didn't give up and made it to the top without putting a foot down.  The ride ended with a bag of chips and a beer on the beach before a train ride back to London.

I Don't Own A Cervélo But I'd Like To

We're All Cannibals

Maybe Tom Boonen can frighten Fabian Cancellara off during the Classics next year.  Scary stuff!

New Transport Secretary

Depending on which part of the world you from, you may or may not be aware that the UK has recently elected a new coalition government made up of a majority of Conservatives with a sprinkling of Liberals.

With this new government comes a new transport secretary, the Conservative MP Philip Hammond.  I recently listened to the latest edition of the Velocast (see link on this site, bottom right) who highlighted a smattering of Mr Hammonds views on cycling.  After listening to the podcast I did a little further research and up popped an brief article from the Guardian about Mr Hammond.

It appears our new transport secretary is a big fan of driving his Jaguar XJ out on the open road (arrh, isn't that nice) and thinks cyclists should get out of the way! (fantastic)

You can read the Guardian article here.  God help us!

P.S I won't ever be voting Liberal again.

An F**king Perfect Bike Shop

Seen here.

Token Of Gratitude

Seen here.

Mark Cavendish was the winner of Stage 1 of the Tour of California from Nevada City to Sacramento. He was presented with this painting by Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson.

Portraits #1

© NO Gallery 2010

Here are more fantastic images from London based artist and designer James Straffon, this time focusing on portraits of some cycling greats including Jacques Anquetil, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx.  Check out more of James work over at his relaunched website NÖ Gallery and check out his blog over at NÖ Endeavour.

Hampster Assisted Bike

Click the image to see larger size.

Golden Stages Of The Tour de France

I’ve just finished reading a book called Golden Stages of the Tour de France all about key legendary stages from the Tours rich history.  The book is compiled by Richard Allchin and Adrain Bell and features tales from nineteen stages all individually broken down into their own chapters and written by different contributors all of whom are leading lights in the world of cycling literature and journalism such as Graham Fife, Les Woodland, Matt Rendell and David Harmon amongst others.

The chapters run in chronological order with 1903 being the first stage and 2002 being the final stage in the book.  Each writer had to fulfil a brief for their contribution, it needed to tell the story of their chosen stage and how and why what happened that day was significant to the outcome of the race as a whole and where that race fitted into the change and progress of its period.   Its list of characters had to include some of the key riders of the time.  Contributors were also asked to reflect upon developments that marked a particular decade such as mechanical changes to bicycles or changes to routes, tactics and organisation.

In terms of the above brief the book certainly ticks all the right boxes.  Even though the book is made up of multiple writing styles it still flows well from one anecdote to the next.

Choosing which stages to include must have been a long and painful process, the choice of classic stages is so great.  The selectors have done a great job though with all the stages in said book definitely qualifying for legendary status.  Yes there are probably some stages missing that warrant such status but what is already there will surely satisfy.

For example there is the sacrifice of René Vietto when he famously gave up his front wheel to team-leader Antonin Magne in 1934.  Fausto Coppi’s devastating 20th stage victory over Gino Bartali in the 137km time trial in 1949 is there.  How about Sean Kelly, the sprinter, beating the likes of Bernard Hinault and Phil Anderson over the mountains between Fleurance and Pau in the 12th stage of the 1982 Tour, it’s also there.
I’m not going to list all the amazing stages that feature in this book but please take my word when I tell you it was an absolute treat for me to read as I’m sure it will be for you too.

Golden Stages of the Tour de France is published by Mousehold Press and can be purchased from Urbanhunter.biz for £12.95 plus worldwide shipping.

Faces Of The Giro

il Giro - monte zoncolan #2

giro d'italia - cesenatico #1

giro d'italia - cesenatico #1

I love these images of different characters captured by Jakob Kristian Sørensen at this years Giro d'Italia.  It's a fine way to round off coverage of what was arguably the best grand tour for years.  You can see much more of Jakob's work over at velopresse.dk.

Saxo Bank Deny Motorised Bike Cheating

The rumours and conspiracy theories relating to Fabian Cancellara and his alleged use of an electric motor aid on his bike during the spring classics have prompted Saxo Bank to release a statement refuting these claims.

The Saxo Bank statement said: 

Team Saxo Bank rejects all insinuations and accusations that have been made in the media regarding Fabian Cancellara's alleged use of an electric motor in his bike.

Team Saxo Bank is strongly opposed to any form of cheating and there is absolutely no truth to this story. There was not and never has been a motor in any Team Saxo Bank rider's bike.

In principle, Team Saxo Bank does not comment on rumors. However, with the irresponsible distribution of this story and related video, a myth has been developed that needs to be addressed. We will not participate in the furthering of this story and find the marketing platform now created for the engine manufacturer completely out of place and unwarranted.

We are confident that the majority of those people who have come across this video see if for exactly what it is, A creative, amateur artist's attempt to express a purely hypothetical idea that has not basis of fact or truth. It is a work of fiction, disguised as documentary.

We regret if this has led anyone to view Team Saxo Bank in a negative way and we are deeply offended by the questioning of Fabian Cancellara's integrity, character and abilities. Fabian possesses incredible ability and talent and is a true professional. Fabian has provided Team Saxo Bank and cycling fans the world over with countless memorable victories and tremendous performances.

Fabian's victories in Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix embody everything that is beautiful about our sport, strength, endurance, suffering, passion, drama and teamwork. Fabian's victories are the result of dedication, hard work and sacrifice as well as his unique ability to rise to the occasion when striving to reach his goals. We are confident that the public can see through the nonsense this myth has presented and respect Fabian for what he is. A true Champion.

There will be no further Team comment on this situation as we feel the insinuations do not warrant further time or energy.

To see my comments on this issue and the video relating to the story click here.

Velogames - Giro d'Italia 2010 FINAL RESULT

Finally the Velogames final results have been calculated for the Giro d'Italia and I'm happy to announce Team Coffin Dodgers directed by Epoh as victors of the Velorunner International fantasy league.  Congratulations and kudos to Epoh!

Velorunner International

Rank	Team	Directeur	Score
1	Team Coffin Dodgers	Epoh	6310
2	Velorunner	Jason	5764
3	Merckx Again	EddyM	5551
4	Galactic Hitchhikers	Ata	5233
5	TBag's Bitches	Teresa Houghton	4670
6	vc tranquille décontracté	ian nutt	4591
7	R'lyeh Riding Team	Denilzon	4580
8	Furry Fury	Robinoco	4079
9	TractorPullers	Martin Gustafsson	3800
10	Benito's Bambino's	Ben Everitt	3436
11	Humble Herne Hillbillies	brixtonblade	3342

Next up will be the Velorunner International fantasy league for the Tour de France. Look out for details of that here in the coming weeks.

Tour de France 2035

Seen here.

Did Cancellara Literally Motor Away To Victory - A Conspiracy Theory

When I first read a story just over a week back about motorised doping in Cycling News I had to check the calendar to see if it was an April fools joke.  There is no way the pro's could be cheating the system by using motorised assistance to gain an advantage in races, or so I thought.  I disregarded the above article as a story too far fetched to be possible and thought nothing more of it.

Fast forward to this weekend and Ron from the Cozy Beehive blog posts a piece on the subject featuring a video alleging Fabian Cancellara won both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders with the aid of motorised assistance.

The aid Cancellara allegedly used is called a Gruber Assist.  The motor for this piece of technology consists of five parts:

• On/off switch
• Electronic control
• 200 watt powered drive unit with free-wheel
• LiION Mangan battery pack 4.5 Ah / 30V
• External battery charger

Here's what the folks at Gruber Assist have to say about their piece of technology and how it works:

The auxiliary drive, with a length of almost 22 cm and 200 watts of power, is permanently connected torque-proof with the drive shaft of the foot pedal through a bevel gear unit; gear changing is still possible. At an optimal pedal frequency of approx. 60 pedal revolutions per minute, the bicycle drive provides the rear wheel with up to 100 watts.  The entire drive unit (motor, transmission, electronic control) weighs no more than 900 g. The LiION Mangan high-performance battery, which fits into a conventional saddlebag, provides you with motor-assisted cycling lasting for min. 45 minutes, depending on how hard you pedal. It weights just 1000 gr., has a charge level indicator and active balancing.  The special design of the drive unit allows it to be built into any bicycle frame with the requisite seat tube internal diameter of 31.6 mm and is therefore not visible on the bicycle – except the on/off switch, which is unobtrusively located at the end of the handlebars.

It's all real technology from a real company that can be used, including retro-fitting, on real bikes.  No make believe here then.  For sure the UCI will now be looking out for bikes fitted with Gruber Assists prior to the start of races but did they perform the necessary checks to Cancellara's bikes prior to his two stunning spring classics victories.  At the time many of us were writing of Cancellara that metaphorically speaking he motored away from the competition.  Also, remember Bernhard Eisel's quote:

I thought, I’d better let this motorbike come by, but when I turned around and looked it was Cancellara.

We'll probably never really know if Cancellara's victories in Roubaix and Flanders were aided by a motor and until a time when there is conclusive proof I for one will continue to believe Cancellara is simply an awesome athlete who at the time of his victories was at the absolute height of his power and form.  Having said that take a look at the video I mentioned earlier alleging Cancellara's use of a motor aid.  If nothing else it makes for entertaining viewing.