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Monday 6 February 2012 - sometimes its simply too cold to ride and Saturday morning was a prime example. My outside thermometer registering minus 7deg C. Both my cycling buddy and myself decided nah, too cold. But if I could guarantee no punctures (can't fix them at these temperatures) and certainly no falls on icy lanes then maybe and that's a big maybe I might venture out. Sunday brought the snows so walking boots came out instead for stomping over the snowy country paths close to home. Zilch riding this weekend and the first event a 10mile TT looms on the March horizon. Finally Contrador is found guilty, why on earth did it take so long? Well at least the Spanish butcher came out clean in the end.

Monday 13 February 2012 - finally the freezing cold weather is disappearing at last. Over the weekend with temperatures dipping to minus 10C in the locallity and black ice in abundance restricted my riding to zero.So walking boots donned again. I did foolishly once go out in these icy conditions and managed to bring down a cycling mate damaging his back which took him many months to recover from, I was ok as I landed on top of him hence his injuries. But the message was clear don't risk it better to start training a little later but in rudiment health. So with the winter woes behind its full steam ahead. Also my book writing is coming on bundles as well, never a dull moment here.

Monday 20 Februray 2012. well what a superb track meeting at the new London Velodrom and wonderfully covered by the BBC. A friend of mine attended the meeting and he could only find positives. From the excellent organisation to the hospitality shown by the officials. The program ran seemlessly and he felt sorry for the riders who were on the go all the time, no wonder they feel exhausted. But Sir Chris Hoy, what a competitor, I was having my doubts this year and thought Jason Kenny had the edge, but I was proven wrong and right now who in their right mind would leave Sir Chris out of the number one slot?But I thought the real hero was Laura Trott what a plucky, classy competitor, just a bit more concentration and the Olympic Gold could be hers, because undoutedly she has the talent and is racer through and through.

Tuesday 28 February 2012 - an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph recently was the report on the Dutch specially designed road spaces shared by cyclists, pedestrians and motorist called 'woonerf'. It works by changing the psychology or road users by firstly- forcing the speed down to 12mph, secondly- principals are applied nationwide so no confusion and recognised by road users everywhere. Third- legal responsibilty is heavily weighted agains the motorist in the event of an accident. One UK leading proponent is Jenny Jones mayoral Green Party candidate and London planning housing chairman. Who would like it rolled out across the uk.

Unsurprisingly, AA's head of transport policy Paul Walter is not so keen, citing expenditure with local authorities having insufficient budget. Peter Rodger IAM's chief examiner and former Met Police traffic inspector mentioned after a recent Dutch visit made him feel uneasy with pedestrians and cyclists wandering willy-nilly but did make him concentrate more and slowed him down. With every increasing fuel prices and safety for our more vunerable road users of a major concern when will we see this rolled out in the UK?

Monday 5 March 2012 - did anyone watch the Horizon program last week on BBC2 advocating the benefits of micro intervals? These consist of riding 3 x 30sec flat out efforts with 30sec recovery + warm up and cool down all less then 10mins. All ridden on a static bicycle and the presenter rode in his suit prior to going to work. Ride three of these sessions per week and they advocate the benefits are more than sweating out in the gym for hours on end. Very interesting program, catch up seeing it on BBCi.

Sunday 18 March 2012 - what would we do without the Amersham Road? Time trialling on this stretch of road in the Chilterns would never be the same without the courses available. A ride out this morning to meet team mates who rode a 25mile TT, seeing them at the Great Missenden HQ and them riding home makes for a full morning with 50 odd miles on the Garmin. When then build HS2 what will happen this to corner of the Chilterns heaven knows, but now for the time being, enjoy it while you can. My racking cough now firmly in its 3rd week shows no sign of abating hence me not entering any events, hopefully Easter will see pedals turned in anger.

Monday 19 March 2012 - whilst out yesterday at the HQ of the West London Combine 25 spotted Colin Roshier, hard man of West London and elite rider. Colin's been out of the bunches for a couple of seasons with a dicky back, but now confirms back is ok and he still looked whippet thin. So life in the Hillingdon circuit events for us vets on Wednesday nights are looking to become a whole lot harder this season with Colin cracking the whip.

Monday 26 March 2012 - layed low with a throat infection for several weeks now, has restricted riding. Shame, as the weekend weather was absolutely glorious over 20deg, shorts and T shirts. But managed to get out for a gentle ride on Sunday. Plus took my Brompton into town yesterday afternoon to visit someone in hospital. Its been a while since I've cycled up town, but some of the cycle road networks are quite impressive. Especially one in Tavistock Place near Russell Square, where there is a strip of road made into a 2-way cycle lane cordoned off from the main road, which is incidentally a one way street. Very unusual but effective as the cycle lane is about 2metres wide with white line down the middle for two way cycle usage, unique idea.  

Monday 2 April 2012 - fuel or lack of it seems to be very topical at the moment, but out in the lanes I don't see many drivers slowing down to conserve the precious stuff. It is surprising the Government did not advise motorists slow down and conserve. I am a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and the current spring issue just out devotes a great deal about cycling. A large article focuses on the Dutch policy 'woonerf' mentioned earlier on this page, why are we so slow in picking these ideas up and driving them through. Disturbingly the other article about cycle safety cites a non reduction of casualties compared to other users. Furthermore the long term trend is worrying. Cycling casualties increased by 17.5 per cent between 2007 and 2011. In fact one of these casualities was the IAM treasurer Mr Simon McGuire knocked off by an indiscriminate motorist who flung his car door open whilst he rode past. Mr McGuire suffered traumatic injuries and had five operations on his wrists. What really smacks is after viewing CCTV coverage, the police decided to take no action against the driver who caused this accident. Now if we adopted the woonerf method the driver is immediately held liable if there is an accident, it would certainly concentrate the motorists mind. Sadly, there is no mention of this in any of the London Mayor manifestos, if they were really serious well?

With the clocks going forward the evening road race leagues on closed London circuits start cranking up. So for those riders new to this game, why not practise by finding a quite stretch of road with minimum traffic and  left hand turns and practise sprinting out of the corners simulating the race?

Wednesday 11 April 2012 - the mid-week summer road race leagues have started. Ask yourself this question, what does it take to win these events? Daring, some finishes are not for the faint hearted, skill, fitness, speed and a good sprint. Failing a good sprint,  you have to break away, which is a lot easier said than done. Practise your sprint, always worth having this tool in your locker.

Monday 16 April 2012 - I did my bit for the sport on Saturday by officiating at my club's annual road race promoted on the Hillingdon circuit.The popularity of cycling is increasing with over 80 riders in the 3/4 cat race and nearly 50 in the E/1/2/3 race. Both fairly easy to judge as we had breaks in both races so much easier to place the riders. But no doubt having a photo-finish camera to place all riders was a god-send. Both races run safely with good bike skills from both sets of riders, so well done to them.

There was a funny piece in Sunday's Telegraph, mentioning Mamils. Middle aged men in Lycra and the booming market in bikes especially the high end spec models. With the ultimate bike at the moment Square Mile £12,000 S-Works McLaren Venge, a collaboration between the Californian company Specialized and the British Formula One group. Wouldn't like to crash on that at Hillingdon now, would I?

Monday 30 April 2012 - well the British Olympic Authority has lost their battle with the World-Anti-Doping agency who have advised us that we cannot impose a life time ban for our drug cheating athletes. I've heard various debates for and against this matter and I'm just as confused now as I was many months ago. An interesting point of view though comes from the athletes themselves.

What if you were in a  team  that won gold, for example in  4 x 100m. One of your team members fails a drug test and your stripped of your medal. The ultimate of your unblemished career. You'll never have another chance to win gold again. Let down, to put in midly.

But your cheating colleague goes on to compete in the future and wins gold, becomes a national hero and all the lucrative endorsements that come their way. While you lose out. Is this fair and does national ambitions steamroller away fair play and havng a moral conscience? Difficult one to call isn't it?

Wednesday 9 May 2012- sensational news about cycling legend Graeme Obree, setting out to beat the cycling landspeed record on a home made bike. It's been targeted to reach a speed of 100mph betterning th current record of 82.8mph held by Canadian cyclist Dan Whittingam.

In typical Obree style parts of the machine are built from old saucepans! Lying face down, with his nose inches from the road, pedaling a huge gear which is about 3 time bigger than the largest gear on a conventional road bike, Graeme, will hopefully power this beast to the record on USA road in Nevada. After building up speed he will be timed over 200metres. The attempt is going to be made in September, good luck to Graeme

 

 

 

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