Interview with Emma O' Reilly - The Race To Truth (Part Two)

In the second part of the interview with Emma O' Reilly, we discuss The Omerta, Oprah and Forgiveness.  The first part of the interview you can find here.   

Abbreviations PJ = Phil Jones
EOR = Emma O' Reilly
LA = Lance Armstrong

PJ - A slightly more difficult question is that for some time you were part of the Omerta (the unofficial code of silence around doping in the sport).  You carried illegal substances on more than one occasion, albeit uncomfortably as you mention in the book.  Only a couple of weeks ago in a BBC interview conducted with Dan Roan, Lance Armstrong was asked 'If you had your time again, would you do it again?' and he answered 'yes if it were 1995' which created a whole new load of headlines.  So, same question to you.  Would you do it again?

 EOR - "A lot of the context was taken out of the interview, so you need to read it fully.  If I had my time again, yes I'd do the same.  That's how messed up the times were then.  I stood out as someone who was clean and good, I'd always refused to have anything to do with the medical programmes, at that time the medical programme was part of the process of being in a professional racing team.  LA described it on Oprah as the same as 'having air put in your tyres'.  It's not being flippant but It was just a fundamental part of it.

I had always planned to get out of cycling when I was 30.  I always had this thing that you have to look at yourself in the mirror, doping was wrong and I didn't want the actions from my 20's to catch up with me.  I didn't want to be a soigneur who was a glorified drugs transporter or administrator.  

Cycling had - up to that point - always been a dirty sport so I'd assumed that there would be products around, I just made a decision at the time that I didn't want to get involved with it.  By not being involved with it I felt I was making a big stand, however by turning a blind eye, I was complicit.  It was so dirty at the time, that when I left the sport, I got so many questions from journalists asking if I'd been fired because I didn't partake in administering the medical programme.  

I thought, how do these guys even know, how is that even a story?  It just shows how prevalent it was in the industry.  Even though on occasions I did dip in, I did so little.  I did nothing relevant to the size of everything.  I was the person they came to if there was no other option. I was Plan Z.  The riders never put me under pressure to get involved, other staff members would often sneer at me like I wasn't doing my job right or not showing dedication to the team, but never the riders.

There were times when staff were driving through the night, doped up themselves.  You do a stage race in Madrid and then go back to Belgium when it's all finished, you cannot drive through the night, yet staff were.  I'd look at them and think they were morons, paid minimum wage and expected to work long hours.  I implemented a policy that you had to stop driving at eleven 'o'clock to stop this practice."

PJ - Forgiveness is about not condoning the past but more of a statement that 'I want to move on'.  At times you've been at the brink, lawsuits, defamation, media interest, repuational damage and your very being being called into account.  At what point did you decide to forgive Lance Armstrong?

EOR - "During the lawsuits and name calling, things had become so nasty, so sordid and so wrong that I thought 'Why do I need to engage in this anymore'.  Also I couldn't respect what Lance was doing, so why would I involve myself in it.  One of my coping mechanisms was to stay as far away from it as possible.  I could see so many people becoming consumed by hate and distress.  

Unfortunately, I could understand where Lance was coming from.  I saw what happened to Willy Voet (Google 'The Festina Affair) so knew that the hate would come from within cycling, it doesn't make it right, but at least I understood the reaction and the motivation.

I felt I'd been manipulated by many people, including Lance.  After the USADA report, Lance had taken a big impact and I'd always been taught to never kick a man whilst he's down.  He got in touch with me before the Oprah Winfrey show, I was still very angry and thought who the hell does he think he is.  I didn't take the call or reply to the texts.  I was suspicious as I thought that was some way of him using the conversation to his advantage on camera to say that we were in communication or something.

I thought, no way am I giving him the opportunity to look good in any way, shape or form and I'd still do the same now, in the same circumstances.  A couple of months later, it was me that wondered whether it would be worth patching things up or drawing a line under it for both of ours sake, so I got in touch with him. 

I dropped him a text and said that if he was genuine to get in touch.  He replied immediately and we began to start messaging each other again, it was awkward in the beginning but it became easier.  During the Summer I was in Florida, we said we'd meet at some stage.  I was ready to forgive, but not necessarily to trust.  

Before I went to Florida, I'd sent him several messages to ask in advance what he was planning, what was his agenda.  I was still suspicious.  On each occasion he said there was no hidden agenda, simply to meet.  One thing about Lance, whilst he is known for being cunning, he attacks from the front, always.  You know it's coming.  If he was planning something, he would have either not answered or you would have got some hint.  

What was embarrassing was the first time we spoke on the phone.  We'd been texting for months, but it felt a bit awkward.  When we eventually met, we clicked right back to how things used to be.  We've been in contact this week for example.

Forgiveness allows you to move on in a healthy way.  It gives you back your control of a situation.  You feel more at peace with yourself.  It gave me my confidence back."

PJ - What impact did all the stress of the entire Lance Armstrong affair have on you.  Many people would have cracked under the pressure, had a breakdown or had a crisis in confidence?

EOR - "For sure, I had many dark days, at times it was awful and it did affect me.  I wanted to call the book 'The Lost Decade' because I saw my thirties as being lost.  I became very withdrawn over that decade, much less outgoing.  I always knew I was telling the truth, yet people around me didn't always realise quite how much it was taking out of me.  

At the height of the publicity and legal threat, there was talk of going to a safe house which I rejected.  All I could remember was that Lance was the guy whose legs I used to rub and who I made bottles for, not the global superstar.  It was one of many coping mechanisms I had."

PJ - Did you watch the Oprah interview?

EOR - "It's funny.  David Walsh asked me to watch it with him but I actually watched it on my own.  It was only then did I realise how much weight I had carried.  I knew Oprah would ask about me my role and his actions.  When he admitted that I was telling the truth on camera, it felt like a weight had been lifted from me, at last it was real and the full truth was out there.  I was vindicated.  Like someone had released a pressure valve.  It's not that I was looking for that to happen, but it made me realise that things had got to me.  I was hurt deeply.

I'd turn off the interviews over the years where he'd vehemently denied any indiscretion, talk of doping or cheating.  I couldn't stand listening to the nonsense and drivel.  He wasn't honourable in how he acted, not in any way, shape or form." 


PJ - And what of the authorities during the whole period.  Did they all turn a blind eye?

EOR - "I know for a fact they did and I spoke out about it.   Lance has subsequently backed me up on this issue.  My issue was never with the riders, they inherited they the system or went home.  The only reason that system stayed in place was because of the authorities and the doctors.  When I was in the sport, what upset me was the people who were meant to protect the riders were complicit.  The President of the UCI, was actually calling riders to tell them they were positive to give them the heads up.  What protection does that give to people within the sport like the riders? 

Then you have the doctors administering it.  A UCI commissaire gaveJohan the heads up when Lance had a high cortisone reading in the 1999 tour.  Yes the riders were wrong, yet the entire thing was morally corrupt and only way to participate in Professional cycling was to get with the programme."

PJ - What have you learned about yourself during this whole experience?

EOR - "That's a really interesting question. I think I'm still the same person.  I'm probably more of a private person and there are times when I regretted speaking out.  I put in the book a quote from Martin Luther King - "Bad things happen when people stay quiet."  

I guess I've learned that I should have protected those around me better and I should research things better before jumping in to things."

The Race To Truth is available via good book stores and via Amazon.  Emma O' Reilly now practices sports physiotherapy in a clinic in Cheshire and is one of the people behind Cheshire indoor cycling centre - ProSpin Cycle club. 

Interview with Emma O' Reilly - The Race To Truth (Part One)

You don't often to get the opportunity to talk to someone who was has been in the epicentre of a global media circus.  If you followed the fall from grace of Lance Armstrong, you'll know the name Emma O' Reilly  The former soigneur to Armstrong was a pivotal figure in his now famous downfall, someone on the inside who saw the inner workings of the US Postal team up to her departure in 2000.

Last year O' Reilly published a book detailing her side of the Armstrong affair, I recently caught up with her after reading the book. There were some things that stood out with me as interesting which would be good to gain some further insight on.

The interview comes in two parts, the first part can be found below: -

Abbreviations  
PJ = Phil Jones
EOR = Emma O' Reilly
LA = Lance Armstrong

PJ - So, the big thing that smacks you in the eyes as you open the book up is that Lance Armstrong has written the foreword.  After all he had done.  In your darkest hours, when you were faced with vitriolic hate from LA, he called you a whore and an alcoholic, did you ever imagine there would be a time when you would have a book and LA would have written the foreword?

EOR - "No, never.  In my darkest hours I wasn't thinking that far ahead, it was more about getting through the latest version of whatever he might have launched at me, I never thought I would do a book anyway.  I never thought that him and I would ever, ever  sit in a room together again, nor did I want to.  

Why would I want to spend time with somebody who called me those names?   Especially when the accusations were so untrue.  No one - at the time - seemed to point out that he didn't call me a liar directly, the most obvious thing to do would have been to call me a liar, but he never called me a liar."

PJ - Where did the idea for the book come from?  At what point did you say, I've got to do a book?

EOR - "I never ever said I've got to do a book, in fairness, it would never have been my intention to do a book.  I was offered all sorts of opportunities like films and  documentaries when it all came out that I was telling the truth, the book was offered to me initially in October 2012 but it didn't interest me.  

Around a year later I met Giles from Transworld, offers for books had continued to come forward and by then I'd had enough time to start forgiving Lance.  By this stage, I didn't want to do a sports book, I wanted a human book and Transworld were prepared to go with me on that one.  If didn't want a book about hate, I wanted a book which described the journey and also to put the side of the riders.  

For someone who wasn't a rider to say here's the situation the lads were in, they're not baddies, they're not drug addicts they're not pure cheaters.  Yes they cheated, but the bottom line was they cheated or went home. 

Sometimes good people do bad things, I wanted to get away from all the hate and the nonsense, I wanted the human story put out there.  We're all human.  I came from the inside to the outside, so I could give all angles of the story so that people could hear everything, then decide."

PJ - Another thing that I thought reading the book was about David Walsh.  He was a big part of the whole story, but as the book unravels, your opinion of him begins to subside and - at one point - you describe him as 'devious'.  How would you sum up your relationship with David Walsh now?

EOR - "It's non-existent now.  I put the book out to let other people make the decisions, I wanted it to be nuanced, that was important to me.  It's a shame because David and I have been through this journey together and - in all fairness - he didn't know that Lance was going to be quite so angry and quite so aggressive.  

But, he's a journalist and I'm not, he did give me the impression that other people were going to speak out and other names were mentioned.  If those names had come forward, so much pressure would have been off me. He pushed the envelope to get the job done but I would still give him the interview again because I thought he was the best vehicle to constructively get the story out that there's a really really corrupt system going on that exploits bike riders and puts them in a position that they shouldn't be in.  

It's less about the riders, more the sport but unfortunately David made it more about Lance than I originally thought he was going to make it.  The intention was to get out there that was something corrupt going on, from the top down."

PJ - At the point when the book L.A. Confidential same out, there were lots of times when you needed to speak to David and your calls simply weren't getting answered. It read like you were hung out to dry.  Did you feel let down and manipulated?

EOR - "I guess a bit but I was naive.  I was idealistic and I'm not from that world.  Don't  get me wrong David was under an awful lot of pressure, most journalists haven't been under that sort of pressure.  I guess I was some ordinary person in the middle of this huge storm, both of us were in uncharted waters but I didn't have the Sunday Times office to go into, their lawyers to speak to or an editor to speak to.  David had to be my support system but it didn't really happen how I thought it would."

PJ - Your book unravels the complex relationships that at times exist between the team management and the riders.  Johan Bruyneel is a big part of the story and, if this was a Christmas panto, he'd be casted as the villain who everyone would boo when he came on stage.  He seemed to be a bully, highly controlling, a meglomaniac at times.  In this entire affair, he has had the spotlight on him but perhaps nowhere near as bright as Lance Armstong.  What's your opinion about that?


EOR - "Johan isn't Lance.  Lance is Lance.  He started Livestrong, has his 3.5M followers etc.  Johan - with all due respect to him - is a Director, he's a coach/manager/director and in all fairness taking away the USADA report he's probably one of the most successful Director Sportifs ever.  In many ways, his back is against the wall more than Lance.  

Lance is against a different wall due to the many sponsorship and other lawsuits he faces.  Lance will come back, he will re-invent himself.  Johan has been really affected by all of this. He definitely, definitely was not one of the nicest guys to be around when I worked for the team, and I'm not making excuses for him, but (he got caught up in the bubble of bike racing where some people seem to think its as important as saving lives) in the bubble of bike racing you get caught up in it all.   

While he was in it, he turned into a bit of a monster, winning and being on top became everything and people (I feel) were just commodities to him.  However I think time has let him reflect and the Johan I met had done some serious reflection.  I'm very uncomfortable with people who can't ever put things in perspective.   

We've all done things we're not proud of but does that makes us bad people.  Johan did things I'm sure he's not proud of but does that give us the right to judge him forever on his behaviour 10 years ago, I don't think it does. It doesn't mean people have to forget but a bit of perspective and understanding goes a long way.  Plus if we can't do that well then we're no better than the bully, are we?

It's funny, Johan and I met up last Christmas, just after I'd met up with Lance.  One of the strangest things is I used to think Johan was huge, much bigger than me, yet when we met it didn't seem that way anymore.  For so many years he had been a bully towards me but all of a sudden he's been turned into this big baddy by the public.  He's still a human being after all of it.

The two of us really didn't get on.  We worked together for two years and for a year and half of it, we didn't talk, although he was meant to be my boss.  We're both strong characters and neither would back down.  Last year when we sat down for the lunch and made up, it became evident that he didn't have as much people management skills as we all thought, particularly around managing someone like me.  He'd gone from being a rider to a Director in the sport very quickly.  But I did think afterwards the problem he faced of having to manage someone like me who wouldn't back down, who won't engage in conversation with you, though I did try for quite some time.  My reflection was I wasn't the easiest person to manage, so was part of the problem."

Coming next.  Part two where we cover The Omerta, The Oprah interview and Forgiveness.

The Race To Truth is available via good book stores and via Amazon.  Emma O' Reilly now practices sports physiotherapy in a clinic in Cheshire and is one of the people behind Cheshire indoor cycling centre - ProSpin Cycle club. 

Switching to 25mm Tyres

Today I had a fascinating discussion with Peter 'Spike' Taylor of ProTool Cycleworks.  Former Head Mechanic of British Cycling about 25mm tyres and how these should now be considered the default tyre for British road cyclists.

Taylor, who was part of the marginal gains programme within British Cycling under Sir Dave Brailsford, is an absolute superbrain on anything technical relating to bikes.  He used to build and maintain the bikes used by the top professionals and is part of the squad supporting the Rapha Condor JLT race team.

Visiting the ProTool Cycleworks centre in The Fell store in Whalley to have a cassette swapped on some wheels, I asked the guys to inspect the tyres I had following my spate of punctures.  

Conclusion was that the rear tyre was worn and would benefit from a replacement, the guys went straight for a 25mm Continental GP4000S.  It led to me asking Spike about tyres and I then recorded around 14 mins of a 20 minute explanation he gave me around tyre technology and why 25mm should be the default tyre size for road cyclists.  It was an unplanned conversation with a hastily switched on phone, so ignore the background stuff.

The explanation was technical, so simplifying this, the advantages are: -

• Ride Comfort.
• Better Puncture Resistance & Reliability.
• Better aerodynamic profiling given the trend for wider rims (less air disruption)

Through the wonders of cloud technology, I captured most of our chat on my iPhone and have put it below for you to listen to unedited.  You can find out more about ProTool Cycleworks here and you can follow them on Twitter here.  Details on the ProTool service centre within the new Beacon store in Whalley, called The Fell_01 can be found here.

 

Meeting Andrew Tennant

Aswell as being a Pro-cyclist, you may not know that Andrew Tennant is a budding coffee barista!

Knocking me out one of the best looking flat whites I've ever seen before we did a ride out today, Andy is somewhat of a coffee perfectionist, approaching coffee with the same eye for detail as cycling.

An imposing figure, 6-4" inches in his socks with size 47 feet, Tennant looked every inch the Pro-cyclist, dressed head to foot in Rapha Condor clobber with matching bike as we set out on a 47 mile flat loop of Cheshire today.

During a windy, but very pleasant, ride out, Tennant talked to me about life as part of the GB pursuit team and life on the road as part of the Rapha Condor team. Open and honest, he was very courteous in riding at my pace and that allowed us to natter for the three or so hours we were out together.

It's easy to forget he's only twenty-four years old (it was actually his birthday today) as we bimbled along nattering, he's achieved a considerable amount in his cycling career to date, a combination of success on the track and the road. You can check his results here.

It wasn't a golden ticket by any means, he's had to make some opportunities happen in his career, grabbing the bull by the horns and showing some tenacity, which I like in a person.

Describing to me some of the highs and lows - including two years in Italy as part of the Olympic Development Programme which he didn't particularly enjoy - and some personal battles, you couldn't help but feel that those experiences have given Andy a certain resilience and resolve.

Arriving back in the UK from Italy, he joined the newly formed Halfords road race team in 2009 where he said he really felt at home, moving on to Motorpoint in 2010 and then onto his current team - Rapha Condor - this year. Those of you who attended the Tour of Britain this year and the Halfords Tour Series would have seen Andy putting the watts down.

His current ride, the Condor Leggero looked resplendent in a gloss black with pink accents, with a top of the range Shimano Di2 groupset on it. Posh indeed. I took my winter hack out today, which looked like the poor relation when we stopped for a coffee at Costa in Hale! I rode that as i thought it was going to chuck it down. Low point was getting a flat about half way round! Soon sorted though.

Seems Olympic plans are going well, with the four man team participating in the pursuit making good progress. He was positive about the current training programme and we actually passed some of the pursuit lads out and about, necking coffee in Wilmslow. He's been at the track the day before, so today's recovery ride was welcome.

He's just arrived back from the Tour of Sardinia, which he (and others) said was really tough, plenty of suffering going on in the Peloton it seemed. Good training for the season ahead according to Andy.

We had a talk about ability to suffer, a common trait amongst pro-cyclists and Andy recalled his teenage years, where -as one of the heavier juniors - he had to work hard on the road and track, harder than others, which almost meant that every race involved a big effort, so it kind of pre-programmed him for life as a pro.

Arriving back in Wilmslow, the morning seemed to have flown by and the legs felt OK as the ride pace was very amiable. Our large loop tooks us West of Wilmslow, dropping down near Northwich, up to Dunham Massey and then back via New Mills and Knolls Green. Route below. Ignore the average speed as my Garmin counted are 18min stop at Costa, actual average was 16.2mph, which - given the wind today and all our nattering - I thought was OK.

I'll certainly be keeping a closer eye out for Andy on the road and track in the future, here's hoping the team pick up Olympic gold in 2012. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Meeting David Harmon

You may not recognise him in the street, but you'd definitely recognise him if you heard his voice on the radio or TV.

Legendary cycling commentator David Harmon is a walking/talking "en-cycle-opaedia" of all things two-wheels, I had the pleasure of a couple of beers with him the other week. Fantastic opportunity to talk cycling with "the voice".

It's funny, as voices on TV often lead you to conjure up a mental image of what someone looks like in person. I had to google David to find a decent picture to recognise him! Those in the pro-peloton know him well, particularly when the Tour de France is on, he and Sean Kelly motor all over France together.

Taking the opportunity I asked David a few questions about a few issues, I didn't manage to write all the answers down in full, so they look a bit short and sweet, I was too busy listening!

1. PJ - Contador situation? What's your view? DH - Contador was treated differently because he is a big star.
2. PJ - Giro Contenders this year? DH - Basso. Menchov has a good chance too.
3. PJ - TDF? It's between Schleck, Contador or Menchov. All have something to prove.
4. PJ - Best cycling book you've ever read? DH - Kings of the Mountains - Matt Rendell. Great book about three men learning to race.
5. PJ - View on Tour of Qatar. DH - Best race at start of season for windy conditions. Great race for sussing out form of rivals before the classics.
6. PJ - View on race radios? Not necessary, never really liked them. Good compromise would be for a rider to be nominated road captain and only he could communicate with the Directeur Sportif. Would make for more interesting racing.
7. PJ - Noticed on Twitter the other week that you and Bradley Wiggins were at Terry Dolans place at the same time. Co-incidence or is something cooking? DH - Co-incidence. Terry Dolan is the frame builder of our Team Wiggle Tandem. Bradley happened to be there as he was back in the UK and is big mates with Terry.

If you didn't know about Team Wiggle Tandem. It's an ambitious project to break a number of cycling records on a tandem. You can follow there goings on via Twitter here. Legendary rider Magnus Backstedt is one of the most recent people to get involved, taking the role of pilot for an attempt on the RRA 25M Time Trial record.

David sits on the back seat of the tandem and explained to me the subtleties of each position and what their role is. You may not know that David was an accomplished mountain biker racer in his day, before turning to the road and ultimately to commentating, via motor-sport (particularly Le Mans). All I can say is if I was on the back, I'd probably feel motion sick!

There isn't much/or anyone David doesn't know about/in cycling. Teams, riders, commercials, DS's, broadcasters, you name it, he knows it. I think the @spokesmen ID he has on Twitter sums it up about right. It was a fascinating couple of hours in the company of a very interesting, knowledgable and astute chap.

Meeting Simon Richardson MBE

Picture this. It's 2001, you're a regular guy, just got into cycling, an electrician by trade, riding off to meet fellow members on a Sunday club ride.

Bam! A car hits you at 60mph from behind. You're off the bike, in agony. Back broken in two places, leg shattered. Lucky to be alive.

You go from being able bodied to disabled. After a long and torturous recovery, you've lost the ability to control your left leg. What next? What would you do? How would you re-build your life?

Wind the clock forward to 2008. You're 42 years old and on the winners podium at The Paralympic Games in Beijing, collecting the third medal of your games, two of which were gold. You're a holder of two world records and awarded an MBE by the queen.

You'd think this was a fictional story. I had the pleasure today of meeting the incredible, but very modest, man behind this achievement. Simon Richardson MBE has a story, which would make a fantastic Hollywood movie. The story of a lifechanging moment, becoming a life-defining road to success.

Simon can ride faster with one leg, than most of us can ride with two. He can do a 10M time trial quicker than most elite riders, rides some of the most horrific profiles on training rides in the mountains of Wales and can kick the ass of most capable club riders in a crit.

Yet, despite all of that, he's one of the nicest guys you'll meet. Modesty in buckets, regular, grounded and doing more miles over a weekend, than some riders do in a month. Simon asked me if I wanted to join him on a training weekend in readiness for the Dragon ride. 200KM on Saturday, followed by 120KM on the Sunday - woh, serious miles (think I'm busy that weekend). Remember, he's riding with one leg!

To put that in some perspective, jump on your bike or turbo trainer and see how long you can ride with one leg before exhaustion takes over. Could you do 200KM ride or a TT in under 20mins? Phenomenal athlete, phenomenal strength and a resolve as strong as a rock.

Simon's story is inspirational. He wouldn't admit to it. British Cycling needs role models like him and London 2012 needs him too.

I previously blogged about the awesome paint jobs on his bikes. Simon bought the time trial bike with the full dragon paint job to show me today. What a bike! Apparently it took around 100hours to paint. Top marks to painter Performance Race Art for sorting him out. You certainly wouldn't miss him!

Want to follow Simon on Twitter, find him here or read his blog here.

Meeting Denise Hampson

I love my job. One advantage of running a large business with a big external sales force is that you are always looking for inspiring people to tell their story as a way to motivate others. As someone with a big passion for cycling, I'm always intrigued by what motivates top-flight sportspeople who have made the top flight and what lessons can be learned for business.

Last week, we heard from Scottish cycling legend Graeme Obree at a customer event about overcoming adversity, breaking rules and achieving the impossible (see blogpost here). I thought that was an inspiring story to fit in with a new campaign we're running which talks about ambition and giving 141%.

Today, I invited former British Champion track racer - Denise Hampson - to address my sales team about transferable lessons from sport to business. She drew some great parallels between her experience as a top flight cyclist who rode for team GB. I've added my comments to these in bold.

• "It's easy when the coach is there, real commitment is the things that you do when no-one is watching" <--This is about self-motivation to get on with the job.
• "Assumptions are deadly". <--Great point, always check.
• "You don't learn if you get beaten or win all of the time". <--Agree, this isn't the ideal way to learn.
• "You don't have to have every skill to be successful". <--A strong team counts.
• "Constant positive feedback is not helpful as you cannot clearly identify the bad days" <--So true, feedback must be constructive.
• "If you have success, celebrate it" <--In a busy world, important to stop for a moment.
• "Belief is important, but not everything". <--Ability also counts.

With a warm, human delivery, Denise won our bunch over really quickly. It takes a lot to impress a sales force, however there is so much to be learnt from people who have pushed themselves beyond the limits that many of us dare to.

From a cycling perspective, Denise was able to share some of the highs and lows of her career, which were fascinating to hear. I've bulleted these for quick consumption, in no particular order:-

• She got into cycling after seeing a picture in a shop window which said "Do you want to be the next Chris Boardman?", clearly she did!
• Her first bike cost £150 which she paid £5 per week for.
• She started in a club, but quickly progressed to the Velodrome.
• She had joined team GB within six months of getting into track cycling.
• She won the British Championship in 2001.
• She was only 25 when she retired after she lost the will to race. A key contributor was the politics in the sport.
• She did around 2,500 hours of training for a race that would last for less than 60 seconds (that's pressure).
• She went to Australia for part of her career and trained with the Australian track team, where she said she really benefittted from a much more informal training regime.
• Her main motivations were to "achieve something that money couldn't buy" and to "prove people wrong" who said she'd never make it.

Denise now runs a successful business which you can read more about here. She has re-invented herself and is on her fifth career at a sprightly 32 years old, by her own choice. That in itself is pretty awesome and speaks volumes about her ability to set and pursue goals.

Meeting Graeme Obree (Part II)

Continued from previous blogpost...

Graeme Obrees Top Tips for New Cyclists

I asked Graeme what his top tips would be for someone new to road cycling. He claims that the following “made him World Champion”.

1. 1. Seek out older riders. Ask their advice, really listen to them, particularly about racing tips or riding in groups.
   2. Never stop thinking about your position on the bike. Saddle height and saddle fore/aft. Keep making minor adjustments to this to see if your performance improves. If it doesn’t put it back to where it was.
   3. Learn when to rest.

Graeme was very insistent that rest is the #1 element of his training, not to constantly keep knocking yourself out, but to include rest as a key element of your training plan.

Do specific training for specific results was something he kept re-iterating. Whether it be a TT, a road or velodrome race, tailor your training specifically for your objective. Graeme finished by saying that he would rather ride a cheap bike that fits him perfectly, rather than an expensive bike that doesn’t. Sound advice (remember my bike fit service, details here).

Nutrition Tips

It’s well documented that he’s not an advocate of performance products, preferring to scrutinise what he eats. Here are his three top tips: -

1. Eat a balanced diet and avoid sports fitness drinks and products.
2. Eat plenty of vegetables and avoid processed foods.
3. Chew your food!

The only two foods that he eats on the bike are Bananas and Marzipan. He says Marzipan is one of the most overlooked sources of energy for bike riders and contains all the necessary things you’re system needs (including digestive) when out on long runs. He’s done all the research on this (Marzipan is a new one on me).

Graeme had studied the way our digestion system works in great detail. He became really animated and went into great detail on this topic, I couldn’t take the notes fast enough. I guess you’ll have to wait for the book!

Other Things in the Conversation

a) The original “Old Faithful” bike can be seen in the Scottish Museum in Edinburgh. He donated it.
b) A replica “Old Faithful” was made for the film. Graeme made this himself and this will be donated to the Scottish Transport Museum.
c) Graeme wrote his book “The Flying Scotsman” himself. He wrote the entire book longhand and amazingly still retains the original manuscript (including the strike throughs that he had to remove for legal reasons). He told me that once he had finished his manuscript and done the final edit, he has never read the book again.
d) Graeme names all of his bikes and feels that everyone should give their bike a name. His current steed is called “Lady Penelope” (he owns two bikes which he’s built himself).
e) He said he is either “full on or full off” when it comes to cycling. Giving everything or giving nothing. Full intensity or no intensity. I guess this comes as a by-product of his personality.
f) Graeme doesn’t own a car and has never driven. He rides everywhere or uses public transport.

So that ends my post about meeting Graeme Obree. He's a one-off person, his own man, not afraid to speak his mind. You have to admire his guts, determination and sheer audacity. A privilege to meet the man. He was generous to carry a poster of his film all the way from Scotland to sign for me, that's being framed this weekend and going up on the wall in the study.

Meeting Graeme Obree (Part I)

Last night, I spent a good amount of time with former World Individual Pursuit Champion and Hour World Record Holder Graeme Obree. I hired Graeme as a speaker for an after dinner talk and – as a result – got to spend a lot of time with him one to one. It was fascinating to meet him and I had so many questions, we spoke for about an hour in the bar of the hotel as I scribbled notes furiously.

Since getting into cycling over a year ago, I’ve read many biographies and The Flying Scotsman (his biography) was one of those that I really enjoyed. I saw the film on TV a couple of months back which I highly recommend you watch.

Reading the book and watching the film quickly established that his life had been full of adversity, serious challenges and – at times – failure. His well documented battle with mental illness simply goes to underline the strength and resolve he subsequently showed in breaking Franceso Moser’s record in 1993. I wanted to focus our time together on his cycling achievements, rather than his battle with bi-polar disorder.

Speaking to him, what strikes you about Graeme is his intensity. He’s either staring you steely straight in the eyes or looking the other way when talking. He’s a maverick. Outspoken. Single-minded. Opinionated. Highly analytical. Focused. Quirky at times. He’s been compared to James Dyson in the way he analyses problems and finds solutions, using first principles for solution searching.

Underneath all of this was someone who is a genuine person with an amazing story and a large dose of modesty and – after the initial nerves – we warmed to each other and relaxed. On many questions, he really paused before answering, considering details, asking that some responses not be published, for political (cycle politics) reasons. I agreed to this, so some elements of the conversation have to remain with me.

I’ve captured as much as I can from our time together. For me, I wanted to get inside the head of a world champion. To understand what it was that made him tick? To understand how we kept going, in the depths of personal and sporting despair when the odds seemed stacked against him? Earlier in the day I’d asked on Twitter if anyone else had a question for him, these are answered below.

Question via @leeboyman – Rumour is that he has a book on training coming out. Is it true? A – True. Graeme is planning a book; however it is not yet started. It’s the next big thing he plans to work on and ideally would like it done for the Spring 2011. The book will cover road cycling, time trialling, training and nutrition.

Question via @leeboyman - Can you ask him if it's true that he just trains on 'feel' ie no heart rate monitor or power? A – True. Graeme told me that his set-up is as simple as this. He has a turbo-trainer at home, with a big screw in it so that the position never deviates or moves. He uses exactly the same track pump, inner tube, tyre and tyre pressure to ensure that his bike set up is absolutely constant over a long period with no deviation. Then he looks to constantly improve every time he trains - sometimes by only 0.5%. Therefore, he trains by feel only with no electronic measurement. Amazing.

Question via @adamleadbetter - I'd like to know what he thought of the film version of "Flying Scotsman"? A – He enjoyed the film, however has only watched it once and doesn’t like to watch it. He was careful to remind me that this was a film, not a documentary. There are some factual inaccuracies; however – in the main – it is representative of his life. He enjoyed the emotional and evocative style and felt that the film has introduced his story to a newer generation.

Q – Do you think you could ride in a team? Are you a team player? A – Yes I could but only if people were as obsessed about results as I am. If people can’t give critical feedback about their performance or mine, then it would serve no purpose for me to be there and I would be better to ride alone.

Q – Do you think the press attention dubbing Old Faithful “the washing machine bike” was detrimental to your career? A – Yes, sponsors didn’t take me seriously at the time, it meant that most of my career I’ve lacked serious sponsorship. Many people have offered me alternative sponsorships of types over the years, but I’ve refused it as I felt it would compromise by ability to speak out or do things my way.

Q – Do you think you would have liked to have ridden the Tour de France? A – Yes. He cites in the book that the amount of doping at the time meant that he could not have ridden the Tour and felt as if he was competing on equal grounds. He would have ridden it if this was not the case.

Tomorrow I'll put up the second post which contains information about his diet tips, advice for new road cyclists and all of the other general information I captured. To be continued...

Update. Here's the link to the second part of the interview and other Obree related articles I've posted.

Meeting Dave Brailsford

"I recognise the back of that head." Sitting on the KLM flight from Manchester to Schipol today, I thought I spotted Team Sky General Manager & British Performance Director - Dave Brailsford - about four rows ahead. I did. When he jumped up to go to the loo, the he was wearing the unmistakable Team Sky shirt. I love opportunities like these, they are too good to miss, so I thought I'd grab him when we disembarked.

I'm glad I did. I ended up having a ten minute or so walk with him from the gate to the luggage collection point. In that time, he told me that: -

• Brad Wiggins is in good shape and all his training has gone well for the Tour de France. He was non-committal on podium finishes, preferring that Brad sticks to process and sees what comes (it's a classic technique that psychologists use to minimise pressure).
• He doesn't think Cav will repeat last years stage wins, he's not 100% at the minute fitness wise.
• They are going to scout the cobbled stages the evening before the race as it seems the lie of the cobbles changes with humidity and all sorts of other variables (never knew that).
• Sir Chris Hoy's training is going well for London 2012 and he may be able to repeat his gold triple if all goes to plan - wouldn't that be something!

He did mention a couple of other bits, however, I got the feeling that they weren't for publication, particularly when I asked him why Brad Wiggins isn't Tweeting anymore. So, I'll tell the trusted few only privately about that one. He also said it would be OK for me to drop by and see him at the Velodrome in the future, won't need to be asked twice!

Meeting Sir Chris Hoy

I'm very fortunate to be one of around twelve business leaders to be invited to a lunch with Sir Chris Hoy in Manchester on the 20th May. This has been organised by the great folk at Jaguar as part of their Manchester celebrates Jaguar month. Sir Chris Hoy is an ambassador for the brand.

Co-incidentally, I happen to be reading his auto-biography - Heroes, Villains and Velodromes - on a short break with the wife. As a result, I've got my questions for him all teed up. I'll share them with you in advance, or - just in case you're reading Chris - you're fully prepared!

1. What role did Craig Maclean play in your development as a rider? Seems that both of you fed off of each other.
2. 1996 World Championships in Russia. Three of you are there. No mechanics. No coach. No psychiatrist. You have a broken arm. What did you learn?
3. There were times when you were riding for Team GB, yet signing on the dole, due to the lack of funding in the sport. How did that make you feel?
4. Tell me about the impact of world championships in Copenhagen and the psychological impact of beating Tournant bought you?
5. What is the single biggest thing that working with Shane Sutton taught you?
6. You are only 1 of 2 people to go under one minute for the kilo on your record attempt in Bolivia. Any unfinished business with this record?
7. Mark Cavendish rejected the science of stats and psychologists whilst with British Cycling. What have you gained from working with Steve Peters?
8. What are the "known unknowns" for London 2012?
9. In the Palma 2007 World Championships the Australian coach was quoted as saying "We've had a righteous kick up the arse." How do you feel the Australians have reacted to that subsequently?
10. What can business leaders learn from track cyclists? (Ex track cyclist Denise Hampson has some interesting views on this).
11. What role has Chris Boardmans "secret squirrel" technology had in your performance as an athlete? Cycling is a sport which goes hand in hand with an athletes individual capability combined with advancements in bike technology.
12. What psychological impact did the UCI decision to stop the kilo event after the 2004 Athens Olympics have on you?
13. If one of the original Kuwahara ET BMX bikes came up on e-Bay, would you bid for it? (Anybody remember that? I used to own one!).
14. Your parents have followed you all over the world and encourage you from an early age. What impact did this have on your life and your ultimate success?
15. If someone said the name "Steven McNeil" to you, seconds before a big race, what feelings would that conjour up? (You need to read the book to understand that one).