Too Good To Be True?

Alberto Contador responds to drug allegations at a press conference on September 30, 2010. Photo: AFP Getty

News of drug positives for Alberto Contador, Ezequiel Mosquera and David Garcia broke today.  While Contador disputes his positive test for high levels of Clenbuterol, Mosquera and Garcia tested positive for Hydroxyethyl starch.

Let’s not forget these are A-samples and as usual news of cyclist’s positives is immediately, maybe prematurely, leaked to the world’s press.  On one hand I have sympathy with any athlete who tests positive for a banned substance and whose integrity is thrown into doubt before a thorough investigation has been made.  After all, very occasionally the athlete is genuinely innocent, yet there reputation is permanently damaged.  Ex-British athlete Diane Modahl is a prime example of this type of injustice.  Conversely, the vast majority of doping cases prove to be true.  Cyclists know the risks when they decide to dope, they know the spot light will be shone brightly on them with even only the slightest hint of foul play.

Compared with fans of other sports it’s hard being a fan of cycling especially if like me you’re a fan who lives in a country where cycling is a fringe sport only making mainstream news during the Tour de France or when yet another rider tests positive.

Most people I know look at cycling as being a sport riddled with dope cheats.  I find myself having to defend cycling’s integrity time and time again with the argument that cycling is the most tested sport in the world which is why so many riders are found positive.  The argument goes that if more stringent testing were conducted in football or tennis, for example, we might find those sports too suffer from a similar problem to that of cycling.  Just look at the doping cases uncovered in baseball to see what happens when a serious effort is made to highlight cheating in sport.

Today’s news isn’t a shock to me, I long ago stopped being surprised by news like this.  It does make me angry and sad though.  The damage these riders and their cohorts do to the sport.  Selfish, short sighted and in many cases themselves victims of a corrupt system, a system that we are continually told is becoming cleaner.

If it appears too good to be true that’s because it probably is

I heard that statement somewhere a few years back. It was made by someone, I can’t remember who, in reference to an amazing performance in one of the big grand tours.

I think back to when I first started watching this sport.  Like most people my age I started watching coverage of the Tour back in the mid-eighties when it was first televised in the UK.  I think back to all the fantastic moments I’ve seen since those innocent days, such great feats of athleticism.  How did they ride away up the mountain like that, super-human!

The innocence is long gone.  I still love watching the sport, the inspiration it gives me is a fuel I use to help me with my own modest sporting endeavours.  I bought my first road bike, a Cannondale, off the back of reading Lance’s book, It’s Not About The Bike.  I’m not alone.  It’s just that now, and for a long time, I’ve recognised that not all the inspirational moments I see before me are real.  All the races I watch are viewed with an eye of cynicism.  Everyone is guilty until proven innocent.  The sport of professional cycling has made me see the it this way.

There are riders in today’s pro peloton who are clean, I’m sure they are clean.  Will I go out on a limb and state who I think they are?  No.  Why, because maybe just maybe some of them aren’t.  How can I be sure? This is my attitude to the profesional side of the sport I most love and enjoy.

Gold For Emma Pooley

Emma Pooley on her way to becoming World Champion today in the Womens Elite Time Trial in Geelong, Australia.  Photo: Mark Gunter

Pooley joins Chris Boardman, who won gold in 1994, as being the only other Britain to have won a Worlds TT.  In fact Pooley becomes only the third Britain ever to win gold in a Worlds competition with Tom Simpson being the other winner in the road race in San Sebastián, Spain, in 1965.

Peloton Magazine Issue 1

Issue 1 out in November.  For more information click here.

Men's Road World Championship Predictions

In just a few days time (September 29 - October 3) the UCI Road World Championships will take place in Melbourne and Geelong, Australia.  I always really enjoy watching the Worlds, Mendrisio was good last year with Cadel Evans winning the elite men’s road race and Fabian Cancellara performing a master class in the time trial.  In recent years I also remember Stuttgart with fond memories. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch all the men’s and women’s races that year, I really liked the circuit.

Showing well at the World Championships has always been a high priority for many of cycling’s elite ever since its first inception with an Alfredo Binda victory way back in 1927.  What an honour it must be to be able to wear the Rainbow Jersey in every road or time trial race one enters for an entire year. The lure of the jersey and all it brings makes winning a Worlds race so special.  Scanning the names of previous winners is looking at a who’s who of nearly all of cycling’s greats with Jacques Anquetil and recently deceased Laurent Fignon being the most glaring of notable exceptions.

Even though I’m not going to be able to watch this year’s races, due to being away on holiday, I’d like to take this opportunity to lay my cards on the table by giving you my Men’s Elite Road race podium and best of the rest predictions.

I’ve spent the last few hours putting together a short list of riders who’ve made it into my predictions.  With so many top draw riders taking part it’s been very difficult narrowing it down.  In the end I managed to decide on the podium as well as three best of the rest contenders.  You’ll notice some major omissions from the starting list. With a self imposed maximum of only six riders to profile it was a tough job choosing.  What do you think? Did I make the right choices?

Podium Predictions
1) Philippe Gilbert
2) Filippo Pozzato
3) Fabian Cancellara

Philippe Gilbert

Photo: Sirotti

That’s right I’ve made the least imaginative choice for first place by going with everyone’s favorite, all rounder and classics specialist Philippe Gilbert.  With wins this year at Amstel Gold, two Vuelta stages and strong third place finishes at Ghent–Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège I couldn’t see beyond the consistent and impressive Belgian.  He’s on form, he says the course suits him, he’s full of confidence and he’s got a strong team to back him up.  The time is now for Gilbert to step up and take arguably the biggest victory of his career so far.

Filippo Pozzato

Photo: Shane Goss

Pippo confirmed he’s in good form by winning today’s Herald Sun World Cycling Classic Ballarat.  He out sprinted Maciej Bodnar (Poland) and third place Carlos Guinez (Chile) to win the 130km race around Buninyong, Australia, in a little over three hours.

I like Pippo, he’s got style, strip the Italian’s flamboyant image away and you’ll find a champion classics specialist who is also able to turn up the pressure from time to time in the grand tours too. For me his greatest results weren’t his Milan-San Remo, National Road Race Champion or numerous grand tour stage victories but his 2nd place at 2009 Paris-Roubaix.  Tom Boonen took victory that day but Pippo came close and showed me what a strongman he really is.  Apart from a British victory on Sunday I’d really like to see Pippo take the Rainbow Jersey, you know he’d look a proper dude in it.  Alas, even though he also has a strong team backing him up, I see him taking another historic 2nd place not too far behind Gilbert.

Fabian Cancellara

Photo: Graham Watson

Usually I’d place Switzerland’s Spartacus Fabian Cancellara on the top step of my podium predictions but with his recent announcement that he’s agreed with Bjarne Riis to end his contract at Saxo-Bank I can’t help thinking it may have affected his focus.  He’s such a top performer that expectations are always sky high but will a split from a team he’s spent the best part of four years with knock him? .

Even though I believe his focus may not be 100%, I’d suggest he’ll retain his TT Rainbow Jersey.  He’s never won the World Road race but I do think he’ll podium for the first time.

Best Of The Rest
My best of the rest in no particular order are Mark Cavendish, Alexandr Kolobnev and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

I’ve got a feeling that although Cavendish does have what it takes to win a long one day race, look at his 2009 Milan-San Remo victory, the up hill finish won’t suit his style.  If the course had a flat finish I’d have considered him for overall favorite.  The other challenge is he’s in one of the weaker teams with only three riders from Britain taking part, although might he get a helping hand from some of his HTC-Columbia team mates?

Why does Alexandr Kolobnev always fly under my radar?  The stealthy Russian is strong as an ox and with two previous silver medals in the 2007 and 2009 World road races he’s historically proven he can reach peak form towards the end of the season.  With a National Road race victory and a fine 2nd at Liège–Bastogne–Liège this year he’s demonstrated he’s quality yet again.  Maybe I should have placed him on the podium?

Finally I picked Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen as another who’ll shine.  Having been sidelined with an Achilles tendon problem for nearly half this season the young team Sky star has still managed to notch some notable stage victories plus 2nd overall at the Tour of Oman, 2nd at Vattenfall Cyclassics and 3rd overall at the Eneco Tour.  Although he hasn’t quite achieved the success of 2009 he’s regarded as one of the most talented riders in the pro peloton and I think the course is one that suits him.  It won’t be a surprise seeing him take a top five result.

Cross Season

Photo: Marthein Smit

Paved Magazine

Issue 1 of Paved magazine is out now although I'm not sure if it's available in Europe yet?

If the people at the magazine feel like sending me a copy I'd be happy to post an in-depth review on it.  Blatant I know, but hey, if you don't ask, you don't get.

Northside

I really like the colours too.  Seen over at Northside Wheelers.

Tour of Britain 2010 - Stage 8

I went down to see yesterday's final stage of this years Tour of Britain.  The eight lap 12km long closed road circuit was in the East side of London passing the Millenium Dome as well as going through Dockland areas.  I like that part of London which, architecturally, is a major contrast to where I live in the London Fields area.  The buildings on my street have stood for 190 years whereas most areas in the Docklands are new.

Theres alot more space in the Docklands, compared with parts of North London which sometimes feel tightly packed and cramped, making it the ideal location for holding a major bike race, abeit a very flat one.

Stage favourite André Greipel won the stage which ended in a bunch sprint.  His HTC-Columbia teamate Michael Albasini clinched overall victory.  Sky's Greg Henderson won the points classification with Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil winning the mountains classification.

18th September 2010 - Regents Park Ride

Alex and I rode loops of Regents Park yesterday. I gave my body a week off training after the marathon and this was the first big physical effort I had made since then. It was a brisk sunny autumn day so I switched to wearing my Assos three quarter length tights with a gilet and arm warmers on top of the usual jersey. Alex and I spent most of the time riding two abreast chatting away while other riders either sat in behind without taking a turn or would pull off ahead. I didn't mind though, it's to be expected on Regents Park, I do that too sometimes. I felt good for the first 60km but after that I started feeling weaker. I hadn't packed any carb liquids or gels and by roughly 80km I decided I'd had enough and headed home.  I haven't fully recovered from the efforts of the marathon.  My Left hamstring is still a little sore and tight having cramped quite badly immediately after last weeks race.  I keep getting horrible visisions of it snapping so was mindful during the ride to not go too hard.  It was good to be back on the bike though.

Taking It Easy

My parked up De Rosa at stage 8 of the Tour of Britain 2010 course.

Tour of Britain - Stage 8

For those bike racing fans living in or around the London area don't forget to come and see the final stage of this year's Tour of Britain taking place on a 12km curcuit in the East side of London this coming Saturday.  Stage 8 will see the riders complete 8 laps of the curcuit totally 100km.  The great thing about this course is that there are many sections where spectators will have an opportunity to see the peloton twice per lap.  Race start time is 2pm and will last roughly 2 hours although there is plenty of stuff going on both before and after the main event.  I'll certainly be heading down there after my morning ride to check out the action which will most likely finish in a bunch sprint.  I reckon either Borut Bozic or André Greipel will take the stage although I'll being cheering for Heinrich Haussler and Russell Downing who also stand a good chance of taking the win.

Click on image to enlarge.

For further details on the days events click here.

My Robin Hood Marathon Experience

 My race number

Yesterday’s Robin Hood Marathon was a real family affair.  My sister and brother-in-law ran the half marathon and my wife Betty and my mum walked down to the starting area with us, next to the River Trent, to give their help and support.  Also my dad made it down for the finish even though he had key hole surgery on his knee only a few days before.

It was a dry, sunny day around 20c and apart from the wind picking up as the day progressed the conditions were pretty good.

Both half and full marathons started together with everyone lined up behind the start line, fastest at the front and slowest at the back.  Race numbers were colour coded indicating predicted finish times and as thus which sector of the starting area runners should line up from.  As luck would have it my sister, Dave and I were able to start in the same sector. Around 9,000 half marathoners and 2,000 full marathoners set off at 10am and for the first kilometre I ran with Amy and Dave until it was time for me to move on and run my own race, I’d see them at the finish.

The first half of the course snaked its way through parts of the city passing Nottingham Castle before winding its way through the university grounds and Wollaton Park.  We were all closely packed together as we made our way through narrow sectors jockeying for position as we all tried our best to maintain our pace without tripping any fellow runners.  I find these moments with high densities of runners particularly challenging. Not only did I need to keep a focus on not clipping the heels of other runners but I also needed to pay attention to maintaining my chosen pace which involved having to both slow down as well as surge forward into open pockets when I noticed my pace my dropping off.  It’s all too easy when running in the bunch to get carried away with it’s pace which can have disastrous consequences later in the race, especially at marathon distance.  I was mindful of this and so was constantly checking my Polar wrist computer to ensure I kept on target.

My main concern prior to starting the race was to not let the excitement of the big day get to me too much.  My intention was to keep my heart rate as close as possible to when out training.  I’m fairly happy with how this went.  I was a little nervous and excited to start with, as is to be expected, and although my heart rate was higher than normal for the first few kilometres it didn’t get too high.  My technique for this was to focus on breathing and form and to try to block out, as much as possible, external stimulus.  That’s what works for me and if it means not fully taking in the atmosphere so be it.  By roughly the 12 kilometre mark I noticed my heart rate started to drop even though I was running faster.  This was a good indicator I’d found my flow.

As well as having to deal with the crowds of fellow runners, the first half of the race also included plenty of elevation gain and loss.  My Polar doesn’t measure this but I know that during the up hill sections my heart rate was hitting threshold.  The good news was that the second half of the race would be much flatter, almost pan flat.

As I approached the end of the first half of the race the crowds grew larger as they cheered home the half marathon runners.  For them their race was almost over as they turned left to the finish line whilst a minority including myself turned right to start the second half of the race.  It was a good feeling leaving behind the crowds of runners.  I felt proud to be one of the few and I new I’d have the space to really get myself in the zone for what would turn out to be a very tough final half.

Me about to drop off an empty bottle to Betty and pick up a fresh one

Before that though I briefly met Betty by the side of the course at the 21 kilometre mark so she could pass me a fresh bottle of liquid.  My hydration strategy was to take most of my own fluids and a couple of gels as well as using the aid stations along the way.  I ran with a bottle belt enabling me to hold a standard 750 millilitre bottle.  For the first half I had it filled with Torq energy drink.  I consumed this plus a Torq gel as well as drinking some Lucozade sports drink from a couple of the aid stations.  For the second half Betty passed me another bottle this time filled with coconut water.  I also had another Torq gel which I took later.  I reassured her I was feeling good, gave her my empty bottle and off I went.

Kilometres 21 to 28 felt good.  Not only did I have space to run without having to navigate around hoards of people but I felt relaxed and was really enjoying the race.  At around 28/29 kilometres I stopped for a quick pee, took my second gel then pushed on.  It was shortly after this that I was to enter the hardest phase of the race.

All the pounding on hard asphalt roads for the previous 29/30 kilometres was starting to take its toll on my legs.  With every passing stride I could feel the stiffness starting to increase.  At this point I noticed that although I was starting to have trouble with my legs my heart, my engine, was still feeling good.  I new the moment was coming when I’d have to draw on all the mental toughness I could muster and I was ready. Bring it on, I thought, lets have it!  The last 10 to 12 kilometres hurt, of course they did, marathons aren’t supposed to be easy.  I’d been training 6 days a week for the last 4 months for these coming moments. 

Relax the face and the body will follow.  Just relax, focus on breathing, forget about the leg pain, it’s nothing.  The winds behind me now, it’s a good opportunity to increase my speed a little, not too much, just a bit.  10 km to go it’s nothing.  I’m turning the corner of the lake now.  Frigging wind in my face, legs are fucking killing me, block it out.  Run on the grass verge for a bit. Too spongy, it’s like running on bouncy carpet.  I’ll run on it a bit longer; maybe it will ease the pain in my legs.  My legs feel like they’re filled full of lead.  Have I hit the wall? Forget about it just relax.

8km to go, I’m off the lake now, maybe I’ll get more shelter from the head wind.  Will I fuck, it’s just as strong.  I’ll just have to deal with it.  Stay relaxed.  I’m smiling, it works you know, smiling.  Am I smiling or is it a grimace?

I’m running along the river, 6km to go.  I’m stopping to walk just for a few seconds relief, feels good.  I’m only going to walk for a few steps then I’ll start again.  I’m running now, don’t stop, my watch is telling me I’ll still maintaining a good pace.  Hold on, stay relaxed and stay focused.  I’m passing runners all the time. Everyone’s hurting now, everyone.  Some are walking, some are pulled up with cramp at the side in their own world of pain.  Sorry I can’t help, I’ve got my own battle to win here.

I’m passing the Nottingham Forest Football ground, 4km to go.  Under Trent Bridge then up a very short up hill and along the river.  I hear my name, my sisters friends are cheering me on, I raise an arm, a fist of defiance again the pain, they cheer me more. I must put on a good show for them. I speed up. I cramp.  Fucking cramp in my left hamstring.  Fuck this! Stay calm, walk a bit more, walk it off, it will go.  A fellow runner smiles at me, come on “you can do it” he says.  I carefully start running again, a little faster. The cramps gone now. I’m back up to speed.  Past the Suspension Bridge. Only Wilford Bridge to go now then I’m over that and into the last kilometre.

I’m passing half marathon runners now, swathed in their coats of foil, as they walk home or back to their cars.  “Not far now” they say.  Stay calm, stay focused. I’m over Wilford Bridge. I’m nearly there.  Don’t speed up yet, hold your pace, hold it. 400 metres, hold it, relax, don’t get too excited, 300 metres, pick up the pace a little. I’m turning the corner now and into the last 200 metres, I can see the finish line.  I see my sister, “go on Jay, good lad” I hear her shout.  I pick up the pace to what I feel is like a sprint, it’s not but it’s all I’ve got.  I raise my arms and cross the line.  It’s all over, breath, I could cry but I don’t, it’s all over.

I smashed my personal best marathon time by 22 minutes and 21 seconds, finishing in a not too shabby 03:40:02.  My sister also achieved a PB for herself in the half marathon.  It’s the day after now and although my legs are still pretty sore I am definitely a very happy and content man!

The Kielder 100

I'm not sure if this image of James is before the pain started or if he's putting on a brave face

My friend James competed in the Kielder 100 mountain bike race last weekend and although I don’t usually cover mountain bike related events I decided this had to be an exception since I new how hard James had been training for it over the past few months.  Here’s what the organisers have to say about the event:

The Montane Kielder 100 is Britain's first 100 mile, single lap, off-road mountain bike race. One lap of a specially designed one hundred mile endurance mountain bike race course with just one road crossing, some fire roads, some grass tracks and a surprising amount of challenging, technical singletrack. This is not a race for the faint hearted or the unfit, just speak to anyone who rode last year.

James isn’t only a mountain biker, he rides road too and more often than not he can be found pushing an unforgiving pace at the front during our weekend outings on road bikes.  I’m in pretty good shape but when James drops the hammer I have to hang on for dear life just to keep up.  So when he told me the Kielder was the physically the toughest thing he’d ever done I knew I had to get him to tell his story:

It was brutal.  Utterly brutal.  Easily the toughest thing I've ever done on a bike.  12500ft of climbing over 100 miles of varied terrain, everything from boggy moorland to rocky singletrack descents.  By the time I crossed the finish line I was a broken man!  Race start was at 6:30am behind a lead out vehicle.  2 miles of paced riding strung the field out before we hit the first fire road climb.  Didn't really notice the pace at first as the adrenaline was going and the pack was pretty busy with people moving about all over the place.  After a while we hit the first section of singletrack, legs felt good and I was enjoying the riding.  The day was warming up and layers were shed as we got into our rhythm, I was riding with two friends.  The first 30-40 miles were pretty hard, lots of long fire road climbs followed by some fast descents on loose gravel surfaces.  It slowly started to sink in that it was going to be a long day.  The initial singletrack sections were well surfaced and fast but as the race progressed they seemed rougher and rougher.  About 25-30 miles in I noticed my drive train wasn't running too smoothly, gears were skipping a little and the shifters felt tight. I knew there was a tech station at the first main feed stop so I stopped there to get my gears looked at.  The mechanic couldn't fix them, if anything they got worse.  I now had lost the 32 tooth cog on my rear cassette.  I was looking at riding the next 70 odd miles without my lowest gear!  To make matters worse the gears were really skipping, any pressure on the pedals caused big jumps, my knee connected with the handlebars and stem several times.  I was starting to hurt...

I decided to keep going to the next feed/tech station; a rough singletrack descent brought us out onto another long stretch of fire road for yet another long climb.  My right knee was really starting to hurt, I realised that over the descent my seat post had slipped.  I stopped, pulled it back up but couldn't tighten the bolt sufficiently to prevent the post from slipping further.  I was getting pretty annoyed now.  Another rough descent (actually very good fun, fast and flowing) brought us almost to the tech station.  Once there the mechanic had a go at fixing my gears and tightened the seat post bolt.  It took a while so I told my friends to carry on without me, I'd catch them up  I started out again to find out that my gears had got even worse...  How was that possible!!  I carried on up another climb and noticed again that my seat post was slipping.  I stopped to pull the post up, put my allen key into the bolt and 'ping' off sheared the bolt.  Unfortunately being a Hope clamp there was a nut as well as a bolt.  I had a spare bolt, but not nut.  Cursing I zip tied the clamp as tight as I could and decided to try for the next marshalls station.  I hoped beyond hope that someone there could help me, but I was in some pain with my knee, bike was falling apart (seemingly) and I had spent the past few miles mentally preparing to abandon.

My friends had waited for me at the next feed station and seeing I was pretty despondent took over.  One located a marshal with a land rover.  The marshal went above and beyond the call of duty and started to strip his land rover looking for a nut and bolt to fix my seat post clamp.  Eventually he triumphantly produced the perfect nut and bolt combination from between the front seats, previously having looked at taking a bolt from the rear door and his chainsaw...  I was back up and running!  Whilst all this was going on I was busy donating spares from my bits box to a fellow rider in trouble - karma, man.

This was mile 47, all these mechanical issues had set us back from our 10 hour target substantially.  We were now looking at barely making the 56 mile cut off.  The race was on.  The next few miles passed quickly, my mechanical salvation seemed to give me fresh legs and I pushed on, the singletrack sections were all superb and I was really enjoying the riding.  Though it was tough going, my body was taking a beating and my knee was no better.  Much of the singletrack was fast and rough with drops, jumps and berms, no let up physically or mentally.  By the time we crossed the border into Scotland we'd covered well over 60 miles, had 40 to go and were feeling the ride.  We made the 65 mile cut off with 30 mins to spare.  This was a hot feed station so we stopped, ate something proper (i.e. not a gel!) and stretched a little.  We had an hour and a half to make it to the final 80 mile cut off.  One of my friends punctured.  Twice!  He was starting to feel the efforts of the day and told us to push on.  A long twisting singletrack descent followed, unfortunately stuck behind a much slower rider.  The trail hugged the side of the hill and crossed a small burn numerous times over narrow wooden bridges - it was intense.  I could feel the time slipping away.  Once we were off the singletrack and onto the fire road again it was a grueling slog to the final cut off.  We made it with 10 minutes to spare, dragging a small train of riders in behind us.  Our puncture stricken friend made the cut off too, 3 minutes to spare and pulling his own train!

We had 20 miles to go, we'd done 12000ft of climbing and we were knackered...  I'd been living off gels for the past 30 odd miles and was starting to feel pretty ill.  3 became 2 as our puncture prone friend told us to head on without him, he needed to rest up.  We started out on the final leg and it went past pretty quick until we were within the final 10 miles.  By that point I was spent, I had nothing left in the tank and I really started hurting.  My legs were shot, my shoulders, neck and back ached, my left hand was going numb and I felt sick.

Jason and I have discussed the mental side of endurance racing many times and the need to shut your mind off from what was happening around you and to just keep going.  I was feverently trying this now but my entire body was in agony.  We passed some marshals and were told we had 6.5 miles to go.  6.5 miles of hell, rough singletrack climbs and descents.  The surface was loose and rocky.  We were both so tired and battered, I'm not sure how we finished, we were making mistakes everywhere.  We crawled to the bottom of yet another rough climb to find the 5 miles to go marker board, I almost cried - 5 more miles if this!  It was easily the hardest 5 miles I've ever ridden.  Climbs were loose and steep, requiring concentration and power, the descents fast and sketchy, battering our already weary bodies into ruin.  We crossed the finish 12 hours and 51 minutes after we started...  Our friend came in 3 minutes behind us, he hammered the last 20!

Overall I'm pleased, pleased to finish and pleased with how we rode throughout.  All the training I did paid off, I felt strong on all the singletrack sections (bar the final 6.5 miles!)  Without mechanicals a sub 12 hour time would have easily been possible, perhaps faster.

750 people entered, 150 dropped out before the race and only 350 finished.  The winner managed in 7hrs 56mins.  Got some training to do.  I'll be back next year; it was a massive challenge and one of the best organised and toughest courses I've ever ridden.

To see a map of the course click here.

James, thanks for telling us your story. See you soon for a few well deserved beers!

Artcrank London 2010

Bikes are the world’s most fun, accessible way to get around. Posters are the world’s most fun, accessible art form. ARTCRANK brings them together.

The first-ever ARTCRANK London show will take place on Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18 in the world-famous confines of Look Mum No Hands! The show features original artwork by UK artists, priced to let you put down a pint or three and still take home all your favorite posters.

Artists
Adam Dedman • BAND • Benaiah Matheson • Chris Thornley • Cowburned • Daniel Mackie • Graham Pilling • Huvi Design Studio • Jonathan Hall • Laura-Kate Chapman • Lee Hasler • Martin Tomsky • Matt Giordano-Bibby • Matt Joyce • Matt Oxborrow • Matthew Slaymaker • Matthew Taylor • Ollie Munden • Ollie Shaw • Peter Carleton • Peter Locke • Pista Collective • Rebecca Cleal • Somhairle MacDonald • Stone and Spear • Susie Lowe • The Ride Journal • The Tree House Press • Vicky Scott • Waste • Workshop

The Taper

I'm in taper mode with only three days to go until I run the Robin Hood Marathon.  For those unfrequented with the term tapering, it refers to the practice of reducing, or tapering off, exercise in the days just before an important competition.

I've learnt a valuable lesson since the last time I tapered, prior to running my first marathon in Berlin in 2008, and that is not to taper too early.  The purpose of tapering is to regain freshness prior to a race without losing too much fitness.  It's a balancing act that can easily go wrong if the timings aren't right, as it did for me last time.  I got it wrong because my taper was way too long, nearly three and a half weeks.  Although I was fresh on race day I'd lost too much fitness and paid for it, big time, come the 35km mark.  This was the most important lesson I learnt from my previous experience and since it was my first time I suppose I can be excused the error.

This time has been very different.  My taper started on Sunday 29th August, the day after my longest training run.  Therefore my taper will have been only two weeks, one and a half weeks shorter than last time.  Since the start of my taper I've gradually decreased my training volume.  In the first week I reduced volume by roughly 30% and now in the second week I'll have decreased volume by roughly 50%.  As I write this I'm in the first of three days leading up to the race where I'll do no training at all, just rest as much as is possible whilst working full time.

There's alot of online information relating to taper techniques, much of it conflicting.  The taper I've described for here may not be for everyone and has alot do to with what type of event is being trained for, intensity of training and how well the individual recovers after training.  Hopefully my revised taper will be good for me.  I'll soon find out!

Oh yes,don't forget you can sponsor me my clicking on the Just Giving icon to the right of this page.  All proceeds go to Cancer Research UK.

Two Wheels

I've just finished reading Two Wheels by Matt Seaton and have to admit it's a grower.  What I mean by that is that it grew on me during the course of my reading the book.  Initially I was disappointed to discover that the book is in fact a collection of pieces from the Guardian newspaper's popular Two Wheels column in addition to a smattering of pieces taken from other publications Seaton has written.  My initial disappointment stemmed from the fact that each piece is only one or two pages long.  In the space of only a few minutes I'd read a piece discussing one bicycle related topic only to be confronted by a completely different topic in the next piece and so it goes on like this through the book.  I suppose my main concern with this was that it wouldn't be a book I could really get my teeth into.  I was wrong.

Matt Seaton is a highly accomplished journalist and author who's other cycling related book is The Escape Artist.  In only a short time of reading the first few pages I discovered that, in fact, this wasn't some book with a bunch of disjointed pieces bundled together but a flowing collection of Seaton's thought provoking, informative and witty insights into the world of cycling.  Although Seaton's pieces pretty much cover the entire spectrum of cycling related subjects they have been cleverly edited together with the outcome that the book flows from start to finish.

I hadn't even heard of Seaton's Two Wheels Guardian column until I started reading this book, shame on me!  I also have to admit that I don't know if the column still even exists, can anyone enlighten me on this?  You see I very rarely buy newspapers anymore and when I do it's usually one of the big heavy Sunday publications.  That aside having read this book I'm now converted.  If I were to buy the Guardian, I think on a Saturday, then I certainly would be searching out the Two Wheels column first, even before the sports pages.  Hey, that is saying a hell of alot from me.

Two Wheels is published by Guardian Books.

Lone Star

Lance Armstrong 1993. Photo: L'Équipe

James Straffon Exhibition

Following a successful debut exhibition with Paul Smith, James Straffon is pleased to announce a special one-day show, as part of the London Design Festival. Featuring cycling-themed painted canvases and mixed-media collages, his work has garnered comments such as "You could spend hours browsing over at No Gallery!" "Iconic figures and imagery from the world of road racing in colourful painting and collage" "It's nice to find these little gems lurking around" and "Cool interpretations of an important and iconic element of cycling fashion".
New works will be on show; all pieces available to buy.
Location
Craft Central
Ground floor - Showcase room
33-35 St Johns Square, London, EC1M 4DS

MAP           Opening time 12 noon - 7pm            Free admission

Mark Twain Quote

I've heard this quote before and was thinking about it whilst running today.  Although it doesn't have anything particularly to do with either cycling or running I really like it so decided to share it.  We all have fears in our lives, I know I do, but how many of them ever actually come to fruition?  I would suggest not very many.  What a waste of time and energy.  I for one will certainly try to remind myself of this useful little quote more often from now on:

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

Mark Twain

Beyond The Peloton - Tour de France Part 3

As you may have heard the Cervélo Test Team will be no more next season. Instead Cervélo will merge with Garmin to become Garmin-Cervélo. I really hope that part of this deal includes taking Beyond The Peloton film makers Joseph Finkleman and Booker Sim. They've done a fantastic job over the last two seasons of delivering consistently excellent and original behind the scenes documentaries.  For example check out their latest offering below.  The perfect way to start a Saturday in my opinion.

Why Hills?

It's sometimes difficult for me to articulate to people who don't know about cycling what the appeal is of hurting one's self just to climb a mountain or indeed a hill by bicycle.  I was reading Matt Seaton's Two Wheels on the train to work this morning and came across the paragraph below which, to my mind, explains perfectly the reasons why we enjoy cycling upward so much:

The lure of the hills is partly about the need for a physical challenge, partly also about the panoramic views they reward that effort with.  But it is also a soul thing.  About lifting your spirit up from the common, quotidian life of the plain and searching for something transcendant.  Mountains, as the Romantics knew, are sublime.

Quote from Matt Seaton's book Two Wheels.

A review of the book will follow shortly.

Paul Smith Video

Nice video here from Paul Smith and Rapha.  I've heard Paul is launching the new Paul Smith/Rapha range in a new store he's opening shortly in London's swanky Knightsbridge.  Usually I don't profile stuff from Rapha due to my opinion that, although their stuff is very nice, they are way over hyped which turns me off a bit.  Having said that I'll let this little piece of hype through since it perfectly displays Paul's 'classic with a twist' philosophy and also because I worked for the guy for 10 years so I still have some allegiances to him as well as a few of his suits!

When Things Get Tough

I've been thinking alot recently about mental approach toward better managing the tough moments in endurance sport, particularly my two favourites of cycling and running.  I have a marathon coming up in a week and a half and I know for certain that I'll hit at least one tough moment, or rather I know I'll smash head long into a solid brick wall of a tough moment at some point during the race!  Even though all my other pre-race preparations have gone well such as training hard, good diet and good rest, attention must be paid to mental approach in order to achieve the very best performance on race day. 

Now I'm no triathlete but I have listened to many interviews featuring six time Ironman Triathlete World Champion Mark Allen and consider him to be one of the wisest and most progressive athletes (ex athlete) around.  The text below was written by Allen and although it is written with triathlon in mind the principles he sets out in the text can, for sure, be adopted for any form of endurance sport.  Of particular interest are Allen's thoughts on the zen concept of quieting the mind:

There are thousands of tools to get you over those tough moments in races. Some require developing a plan in advance of the gun going off so that when the going gets tough, you keep going. The most talked about of these is visualizing your event, walking through your race in the mind's eye, seeing and feeling every element of your event as you would like it to go. Then of course if you see something happening that could derail you, you come up with a solution, a word or a phrase that will trigger a response that is positive.

For example, if you fear getting kicked in the swim but see this coming into focus in your prerace walk through, a simple phrase like "I always continued with ease and calm even when I was kicked in the swim" can indeed help you do just that. The more you say it, the more it becomes how you will handle such a moment should you find an aggressive competitor doing a number on you with their elbow.

Note, always phrase your positive statement in the past. The mind's eye is not linked to linear time. So if you state how you handled something (even though it has not happened yet) your mind sees it as something you did, which in turn becomes something you will then do when if it should come up in a race.

A second tool is to develop the ability to quiet your mind, to silence the part of your brain that is judging every moment as good or not good, hopeful or hopeless. When your mind is quiet, there is no need to have an assessment of what is happening to have your performance actually turn out the best it possibly can. When your mind is quiet, there is also room to hear with acute clarity what you really need to do to make it another step, another mile, and eventually to the finish.

It's kind of like if you ask someone for advice in a tough moment you would not continue to talk over their wise answer. You might miss it. The same holds true for the subtle answers that could be labeled inner wisdom or intuition that are inside all of us.

If your race gets tough, the solution of how to make it beyond the tough moment often only comes outside of the linear logical process of "assess then react". When the mind is quiet, what an athlete can hear is the necessary response that often would never have been thought of through intellect.

You can practice this every single training session you have. If you find yourself over-analyzing the workout, trying to come up with reasons to cut it short or slow down, trying to label every moment good or bad then try to shift into the internal mindset that is quiet, where you stop that internal chatter. See what happens. It may be that nothing comes, but at least you won't be distracted by your monologue that more often than not is less than positive!

A third tool that you can use when all else fails is to start making deals with yourself. Break the moments ahead into smaller and smaller portions until you finally come up with a bite sized task. If you are in the middle of a long race and you just want to quit, make a deal. "I'll just keep going until the next aid station and then I can drop out". "I'll hold this pace for another minute then I'll back off". Come up with whatever deal you can that will keep you focused on going forward.

You might still feel bad, but at least you will make it to the next point. Then another deal may need to be struck with yourself to chew off the next morsel. If you are lucky, you may actually feel good enough to continue free of charge. But either way, there will at least be the chance that with enough small tasks accomplished eventually the finish and a fine placing comes back into focus and then you end the day with your head held high!