Here's Sean The Sadist With The Weather

Posted May 08, 2012 in I Cyclist, Jack Havana, rain, spring, training, winter

Where I live, on the east coast of Scotland, it’s been winter since November 2010. That’s when it started snowing.  Apart from a brief respite in the January, it continued until early March. Then it started raining.  For most of April we were smothered by the haar (think John Carpenter’s The Fog).  A couple of times I managed to outpace it, cycling 10 or 15 miles away from the coast to find patches of sunshine and warmth. (First I had to ope... read more...

The Number On My Back

Posted May 02, 2012 in Hill Climb, I Cyclist, Jack Havana, racing, sportive, training

Number 8744. Four digits printed on a square of shiny card sum up my station in life. Nowhere near the top. Quite close to the bottom.  Eight thousand, seven hundred and forty-fourth. It feels like a slap in the face. My entry was accepted within hours of the registration opening. That was eight months ago. I booked a cheap bed and breakfast near the start and return Eurotunnel on the same day. Since then, I’ve done 6,000 km in training&n... read more...

My First Audax

Posted April 27, 2012 in autumn barlow, female cyclists, sportive, training

Unlike Antony Lazarus, my first Audax experience was not in the lush heat of Bali. It was also considerably shorter than his epic 400km – but in my defence, it was entirely vertical. What is an Audax, I hear you cry! It’s like a sportive, only cheaper. It’s the No-Frills version of a cycling event. And, like value brands, you don’t get the added extras. No signposts, no marshals, and definitely no massage at the end. They tend to be longer than sportives, and the emp... read more...

Do you break the rules?

Posted April 25, 2012 in andy ward, I Cyclist, inspiration, racing, training

Road cycling as a sport is littered with rituals and etiquette. You might think that there is only one way to wear your helmet, or that the length of your socks is unimportant. If so, you are probably not one of the Velominati. The Keepers of the Cog are responsible for The Rules, the sacred text that governs the behaviour of the true road cyclist. I decided to compare my own behaviour against all 91 of The Rules. Whilst I’m too ashamed to share all my answers, here are my favou... read more...

From Zero to 70.3 – First tri of the year

Posted April 19, 2012 in racing, rob ellis, training, triathlon

I’m about 5 weeks into my training for 70.3 UK, and have just rounded off my first race of the year. The race in question was the Ringwood Triathlon, run by Results Triathlon. I feel they really need a good mention here, my first triathlon as a junior was through Results, there’s always such a great atmosphere at the events and the organiser Michelle is always on hand to answer questions with a smile and a word of encouragement. The Ringwood Triathlon comprised a 600m pool swim, 28 mile ... read more...

From zero to 70.3

Posted April 12, 2012 in health, rob ellis, training, triathlon

I’ve just called time on week 3 of triathlon training. It’s been a heavy three weeks, ups and downs, injuries and issues, but it looks like things are moving in the right direction. As anyone who’s made the transition from cycling to triathlon will know all too well, it’s really the running that’s the killer.  Three runs into training and I’d already picked up a couple of issues, with the final straw coming when my gastrocnemius cramped to the extent where I could barely walk. A tri... read more...

Rain in Spain

Posted April 11, 2012 in I Cyclist, inspiration, training

A guest post from David Gange... As I'm writing the rain is lashing down outside here in sunny Spain!! My brand new bike, a B'Twin Triban 3 is waiting to be taken out for it's first spin. I've greased where grease goes. I've lubricated the bits that need lubricating. I've checked the bits that need checking, and now this! The frustration!  I'm a 51 year old teacher living to the north of Madrid in the mountains with my wife, 2 dogs and 2 cats. I've always been indirectly inv... read more...

Cycle touring basics: Trains

Posted April 04, 2012 in autumn barlow, I Cyclist, touring, training

It’s the ideal scenario – train and bike, a glorious combination of public transport and self-propelled non-polluting green smugness. It’s all 1930’s Britain with friendly conductors, steel bicycles, scrubbed young men with baggy shorts, and probably lashings of ginger beer. In reality? Well, I scoff at Ironman triathletes. I’ve endured far, far worse. I’ve endured the modern British railway system. There are two types of train. The local lines, which seem to stop every t... read more...

A plunge into the unkown - Ironman UK 70.3

Posted March 16, 2012 in inspiration, racing, rob ellis, training, triathlon

I’d like to start this article by asking you to watch a quick video clip.  I first came across this video 3 or 4 years ago and it’s had a deep and lasting impact on me; the true embodiment of the Ironman mantra that nothing is impossible. The Hoyt’s truly are incredible athletes, totally overcoming the limitations imposed on them by nature and showing that whoever says you can’t, doesn’t know a thing about human determination! But this article isn’t about th... read more...

Spring is in the air, time for a rite of passage...

Posted March 14, 2012 in andy ward, criterium, racing, spring, Time Trialling, training

Spring is in the air and with the first daffodils starting to show through, I finally got my cycling year off the ground. A good couple of weeks have seen me enter my first road race, compete in my first 10 mile time trial of 2012 and go for a leisurely ride with Chris from velobici.cc Crunching Carbon Until now, I’ve always shied away from road racing, feeling that it was for more experienced riders with mastery of the mystical art of “roadcraft”. Having taken up road cycling 5 ye... read more...

2 up Team Time Trial Racing

Posted March 09, 2012 in I Cyclist, racing, rob ellis, Time Trialling, training

The team time trial (TTT) has to be one of my favourite cycling disciplines, not only to watch, but also to race. TTTs have really been making a comeback to professional cycling, with the Tour recently re-introducing the event, as well as the Vuelta and Giro. Watching the pro’s seemless teamwork and technique, they make it look effortless; this weekend was my third attempt at a team time trial, like my previous two attempts, one in the New Forest and the Duo Normand, this was also a 2-Up ... read more...

My Facebook log of how I got into cycling

Posted March 06, 2012 in autumn barlow, female cyclists, I Cyclist, inspiration, training

How I got into cycling…as told through the medium of my facebook updates.... 7 Oct 09: aarghhhh car is expensively poorly 7 Oct 09, later: who wants to buy a crappy Matiz with broken alternator, a zillion miles on the clock, and an arse-dent in the boot? Bidding starts at £1.70. 8 Oct 09: now have no car...  9 Oct 09: am sweating in places I didn't know I could, and now understand the wrath of a cyclist finding a car parked in the cycle lane. And I'm really hungry. 10 Oct ... read more...

Can you justify a new bike? The answer is - you must!

Posted February 24, 2012 in Cycling Gear, I Cyclist, racing, training

The following is a guest post from Mountain Biking skills instructor Steve Owen. Catch up with him on his website - Sacred Rider Doing what I do for a living enables me to buy another brick and a piece of mortar for my house. I already own all the windows and one of the internal doors, but I digress. I often hear the same comments being made when I mention my occupation: It must be great doing what you love for a living and being paid to do it. Which is usually and quickly followed by... read more...

Cycling in the Highlands

Posted February 17, 2012 in Hill Climb, I Cyclist, LEJOG, Simon Dalgarno, training

A bright blue sky, the low winter sun casting shadows on all the evergreen trees, and a light dusting of snow on the hills looking like icing sugar on the top of a sponge cake. Sounds like a picture that one of the pro teams who are training in Spain or the South of France would have on their Twitter over the past few weeks. But no, this is the scene that I awoke to last Monday, and also the week before on my day off.  Living in Inverness, in the North of Scotland, I hear you all sa... read more...

Mountain Biking - A Dark Art

Posted February 14, 2012 in Hill Climb, mountain biking, training, winter

The following is a guest post from Mountain Biking skills instructor Steve Owen. Catch up with him on his website - Sacred Rider Running your own business is a tricky thing to do these days, but something many of us do dream about during those ‘mundane days in the office’ or those cold damp mornings when you just don’t want to get up, or those times when you didn’t get that promotion and Barney ‘what’s his name’ got it instead.  The reasons are endless and I can feel my blood pres... read more...

Osteoporosis and Osteopenia - Women! Know Your Weakness!

Posted February 14, 2012 in autumn barlow, female cyclists, health, I Cyclist, training

A Facebook friend commented she was off for a bone density scan recently. It sent me into a flashback of when I was 25, lying on my side in a private nursing home in York, with a foam triangle wedged between my thighs. Not my favourite leisure pursuit, I have to admit. But ladies: this is important. Simply because of our gender, we’re more at risk of lowered bone density. We’ve all heard of osteoporosis, right? It happens to old ladies, right? But we’re cyclists, we’re all sporty and fant... read more...

To Clip Or Not To Clip?

Posted February 10, 2012 in Cycling Gear, entry level road bike, I Cyclist, racing, Simon Dalgarno, training

That is the question. After getting back on the bike after so many years and mastering the basics again, I decided last summer that it was time to get more power out of my pedalling and of course this could mean only one thing. The debate of whether or not to go clipless.  Of course my first battle was to understand that clipless pedals actually means you are clipped in (yes very confusing) but I went to the trusted first port of call as always - Google.  Imagine my face as h... read more...

Winter Mountain Bike Fun - Snow Messing

Posted February 09, 2012 in andy ward, mountain biking, training, winter

The sudden burst of cold and snowy weather has wreaked havoc with my cycling plans. Icy roads make me nervous on a road bike, and temperatures as low as -6 degrees centigrade more or less guarantee the odd patch of the slippery stuff – usually where you least expect it. Having discovered the joys of road rash in 2010, I’ve not been in a hurry to relive the experience. Shame Last week I had plans to meet Chris from Leicester-based purveyors of cycling loveliness Velobici for a ... read more...

Get out on your bike. You won't regret it!

Posted February 09, 2012 in City Cycling, Cycling Gear, I Cyclist, inspiration, training

The following is a guest post from Chris Walker. You can read more about his cycling adventures here. I've always had a bike. I go back to the days of the Triumph Rodeo with a 3-speed Sturmey Archer gear - I must have been 9 or 10 years old, I suppose. Like most kids at that time, during the summer months, we were out on our bikes, returning only for meals and bed. Happy days.   I never really got back into cycling in any big way after that, until I started a ... read more...

The best Christmas present I ever got

Posted February 08, 2012 in Cycling Gear, I Cyclist, inspiration, LEJOG, Nutrition, Simon Dalgarno, training

The following is a guest post from one of our newest writers - Simon Dalgarno. You can find more from him on twitter - @maisy98 It's Christmas 2010. Sitting after another huge meal in my parents house with a glass of wine by my side and chatting about nothing in particular, I ask my Dad to relive his charity cycle from London to Paris earlier in the year.  He spoke at great lengths about the different people, lifestyles and bikes that were there. I could see his eyes light up t... read more...

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