Revolution 34

It's been a packed weekend of cycling.  A nice spin round the lanes on Saturday morning (60M), Revolution Track Series at the Veldrome on Saturday night, followed by a 50M club run today, so a decent mileage for the week of 131M (210km).

I need it.  Next weekend is the ride out organised by Onix Bikes that I plan to join.  It's a 50 miler taking in around 5,000 feet of ascent over in the Peak District, challenging for an average cyclist (here's the route for the Onix ride).  So, I've put my winter wheels on my Onix Azzuro, as they have a 32T rear cassette on them and I'm temporarily storing my Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels on my winter bike.  I thought they looked pretty good, here's a picture: -



Kinesis Racelight TK2 - My Winter Bike


With my standard front chainset 53/39 and rear cassette 12-32, it gives me a gear ratio of 1.22 (32.1 inches).  If you were to compare that to a compact chainset (50/34) with a 12-28 on the back (gear ratio of 1.21 or 31.9 inches), you can see it's basically the same, so that's about as good as it's going to get without changing the front chainset, which is a step too far.  More about gear ratios here.

Revolution 34

I had three main reasons for wanting to go to Revolution 34.

1. To see Mark Cavendish in the Rainbow jersey and back on the boards at Manchester Velodrome.
2. To see Rapha Condor rider - Andy Tennant - race, to see how his form was.  Andy is someone I ride with from time to time, so it was brilliant to watch him on home turf and cheer him on.
3. To see the official tribute to Rob Hayles, who has recently announced his retirement.

Cavendish riding the boards caused a big buzz for the event, which was sold out.  Speaking in an interview he said “It’s nice to race at your home velodrome. It all started off here, so it’s good to come back.” 

He wasn't there to seriously race, more of a personal appearance and - although the crowd would have loved to see a Gold medal podium, it wasn't going to happen on Saturday.

Rapha Condor Sharp riders Andy Tennant and Ed Clancy saw to that, putting in a blistering performance in the 1km Madison, nailing a time of 55.351 seconds to take first place.  Cavendish, riding for Team Howies, finished third with 59.421.   You can see the full results here.  Tennant and Clancy looked in terrific form, watch out London Olympics 2012.

Rob Hayles Retires

Hayles takes the salute from the Revolution Riders

Hayles is one of those popular riders who has enjoyed considerable support throughout his career.  You can read his results here.  A special guard of honour was laid on by the major riders there on the night, which was brilliant to see.  Hayles did a lap of honour on a bike and then through the tunnel of pro's to a standing ovation.

He spoke of his career highs and lows during a live interview and his great friend Mark Cavendish presented him with a gift commemorating the night.  It was really good to see and I really enjoyed being there.  Chapeau Rob Hayles for a brilliant career (so far as phase II in the media is just starting).

Summing Up

As I sit here tonight, penning this blog - I feel tired.  I didn't cover myself in glory on today's club run, I felt tired and was dropped on just about every hill.  The route took in about 2.5K feet  across the 50 miles, however my legs felt heavy and I didn't feel like I had much in the tank.  One of those days.  Still, I got up everything eventually (spin, spin, spin) and enjoyed some great descents along the way.  I bought a DVD about Robert Millar at Revolution and it showed him descending on one of his training runs back in 1984, absolutely terrifying!

It felt good to get to the cafe at Rivington, a delightful little place, with an old fellow playing the piano whilst you got your tea and cake down -one to re-visit for sure.  Conditions today were foggy and temperatures were cooler up in the hills, so a steaming hot cup of tea was welcome at that point.

A couple of days rest now.  May do something light on the Wattbike tomorrow night, just to flush the legs out.

Madison Hand Sling

This is a cracking photo.  Captured at the very moment where two teams change riders in the National Madison Championship back in 2010.  As someone that had never watched a track race before, I was intrigued by the Madison event when I first watched it.

It's a difficult race to keep track of.  There's so much going on and when the group bunches up and a load of handovers take place, with the new riders being catapulted into the action via the hand sling manoeuvre demonsrated here, you have to be alert to know what's happening.

Riding a velodrome is difficult enough.  I did a track taster session which you can read about here. Believe me, the professionals make it look easy.  Not sure I could be slinging anyone into the racing!

Photo courtesy of CycleSportPhoto's.com.

Sir Chris Hoy and Matt Crampton

Cracking photo of Sir Chris Hoy and Matt Crampton giving it full gas in the sprint.  Track sprinting requires immense power and huge watts being laid down.  Frames on track sprinters bikes need to be able to withstand around 2000W in power travelling through them, so a huge degree of stiffness and minimal flex is order of the day.

Photo courtesy of CycleSportPhoto's.com.

Sir Chris Hoy Photo

With the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships well underway in Apeldoorn, we can all dream of what could of been if we only carried on cycling past our teens. Perhaps we were the next Sir Chris Hoy in the making? If only...

Still, if you're starting out on the track and you're wondering what your position on the bike needs to look like, look no further than this photograph of the guvnor himself. Looks easy enough, strap in, crouch down and pedal as fast as you can. This triple gold medal business sounds easy, now where's my bike.....

Photo provided by Rick at CycleSportPhoto's.com.

Geraint Thomas Photo

Here's a full-tidy photo of our boy Geraint Thomas giving it big licks on the track. Photo effects all provided by our man Rick at CycleSportPhoto's.com

Sir Chris Hoy - Great Photo

As you do more Sportives, you get to meet more and more people out and about.

One person I've recently met is photographer - Rick Robson - of CycleSportPhotos.com.

Rick was taking the photo's on the recent Polocini Sportive (previous write up here).

He has very generously burned me a load of photo's to share on the blog, here' s the first. I'll publish more over the coming weeks.

Iconic track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, sits quietly at the edge of the velodrome at one of the Revolution series. He could quite easily be sitting in the queue at a spaceport in that outfit.

I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Chris in May 2010, he's an absolute gentleman and every inch the professional. This is a cracking shot.

Should you want photo's taken of your club or yourself out and about, then please do contact Rick at enquiries@cyclesportphotos.com. I think it's mighty generous of him to share these photo's for our enjoyment.

Track World Cup 2011 - Manchester Velodrome

This weekend sees the Track World Cup 2011 come to The National Cycling Centre, Manchester Velodrome. I found this video of GB mechanic Mark Ingham, behind every successful cycling squad are the back room mechanics, so nice to see them getting some airtime.

Look out for the Brother hoardings on the track perimeter. I managed to come up with the phrase sPrint faster at www.brother.co.uk today, so that will be what's appearing (or a derivative of). You can see the race schedule here.

Behind The Scenes: GB Mechanics from Track WorldCup on Vimeo.

Revolution 31

In a three-quarter full Manchester Velodrome, riders competing in The Revolution series battled it out for points last night. I went along at the last minute due to a spare ticket cropping up from fellow North Cheshire Clarion club member Adam Leadbetter.

It's been a while since I've been to the National Cycling Centre, last time was for the Track World Cup as a guest of British Cycling, where I was in the centre of the track and went home with a sore neck (it was a bit like watching Formula One racing cars zooming by).

Being up in the stands gave a much better view of what was going on, both in the pits and on the track, I really enjoyed it. For a cyclist, there's lots to take in. Not only the fantastic bikes that are on the track, seeing the up and coming talent plus some blistering racing but also the stalls and shops that set-up for the night.

I managed to bag a Condor cap for seven quid and a DVD that I've been after for absolutely ages called "The Battle of the Bikes," which details the rivalry between Chris Boardman and Graeme Obree. An absolutely superb documentary of a rivalry from the mid 1990's which follows both riders in a "fly on the wall" style aswell as fantastic footage of their individual achievements. Brilliant for a cyclists Christmas stocking.

If you've never ridden in a Velodrome, it's a completely different experience to road cycling requiring a completely different set of skills as a cyclist. I went on one of their track taster sessions, which you can read about here and I'd recommend it to anyone who fancies it.

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.

Graeme Obree Documentary

Not wanting to be accused of being Obree obsessed this week, but I found this fascinating documentary whilst doing some research about him, on Youtube. I've watched the film, however this Channel 4 documentary is about as authentic as it comes.

The quality isn't brilliant, the sound - at times - terrible, however it gives you a real "fly on wall" feel of the competitiveness that existed between Obree and Boardman, culminating in Obree beating Boardman at the World Championships. If you want to watch it, you can view it here. It's chopped up into six minute chunks which you can keep linking sequentially to on the right. Really worth a watch.

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.

Manchester Velodrome Track Taster Session

After four weeks of I'm going/I'm not going/I've got the date wrong/I've got to be away, I actually made the club track taster session at Manchester Velodrome last Thursday night (much to everyones surprise).

An impressive collection of track bikes were knocking around when we got there, including the Dolan DF3 belonging to track star David Legrys who was training/coaching there on the night (see pic).

I'd not ridden a fixed wheel bike before, it felt quite normal until the point your brain tells you that it wants to freewheel and suddenly you get that "jolt"as the bike nicely explains to you that it's not going to happen! It took me about a dozen or so laps to get a feel for the bike, you soon "get it".

Then came the banking, which feels far steeper when you're riding it than it actually looks from the stands. On the first dozen or so laps, it felt like the bike was going to slip out from underneath me, which made me pretty wary, especially riding a fixed wheel. It's just a matter of confidence and speed. After a while, I started to get it, but didn't venture up to the blue line all session (maybe next time).

The fun point was when they set up a one on one sprint, which as a club we all found fun as it allowed a few scores to be settled. I enjoyed it and it does leave you feeling nothing but respect for riders like Sir Chris Hoy and the sheer power and fitness they must possess.

Overall it was a great experience, albeit over a bit quickly. I'd have liked a couple of hours I think to get my full confidence, however I'm really pleased that I managed to get along in the end. Shoe hire was about four quid and the Dolan track bike came within the price. Highly recommended if you want to experience a different cycling discipline to the road.

Sir Chris Hoy - Fan Flakes

Photo's are in from the nice folk at Jaguar and they managed to capture one of me showing Sir Chris my mocked up "Fan Flakes" box. Who needs photoshop when you've got scissors, a bran flake box and Pritt stick!

Sir Chris Hoy

Top day today. Spent half an hour or so in the company of Sir Chris Hoy at the Manchester Velodrome. What a thoroughly top bloke! He appeared relaxed, looked fit as a fiddle, every ounce the sportsman! The opportunity presented itself courtesy of Jaguar and their "Manchester Celebrates Jaguar" initiative during May. I got to sit right next to him and fire off some of the questions that I'd pre-prepared, here are the answers he gave which I've tried to remember as accurately as I can: -

Q. 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? - A - (Smiles) " There is a new indoor Velodrome at altitude in Mexico and it would be nice to break the record before I retire. I came within 1/5000th of a second to breaking it previously (he held up two pens and put them side by side to demonstrate the distance that represented) and I know that I have the power to do it. It's clear that some riders are breaking lots of PB's on this new track, so if it's going to happen anywhere, it's most likely going to be there."

Q. What are the "known unknowns" for London 2012? A - "The thing about sport is that it constantly throws up new variables in technology and fitness training. We don't show off our latest stuff at the World Championships or in training, we keep it for the big day. Other teams do too, so it remains a big guessing game, right up until the event. That's what makes sport so interesting"

Q. 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? - "We have to remember that in the recent World Championships we won all the medals in the key events which will appear at the Olympics. The aussies were winning medals primarily in the races we aren't training for, so this can give a bit of a false impression. Everything is going well in our training camps and things are on track for 2012."

Q. 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 - A "Clearly it plays a part and we continue to focus on ways to reduce drag. At the minute, a lot of time and money is focussed on the clothing, rather than the bike. When you have a limited budget, you can't spend on everything, so have to focus on the elements which may deliver the highest returns."

Following the Q&A, we had some pictures with Chris and he also signed British Cycling caps for everyone. I also managed to get my auto-biography signed and the front of a box of Bran Flakes, which my son and I had doctored to say "Fan Flakes" on the box. He saw the funny side of that.

Sir Chris Hoy is undoubtedly one of the finest Olympians in history, it was a pleasure to spend some time with him. He was engaging, thoughtful and informative and in the short time he had, was very attentive with us. One thing I did learn is that he does his road cycling around the B roads of Cheshire, so look out for him on a Dolan bike!

Finally, I asked him about his Twitter usage, he is on Twitter, but doesn't really update. He told me that this is all being sorted out and he'll be launching a new website and social media presence in the very near future, watch this space.

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).