First Class

The Belgian postal service, De Post, released a postage stamp on 22nd April to celebrate Eddy merckx's 65 birthday.  CEO Johnny Thijs said:

We're all proud of Eddy Merckx. With this special postage stamp for his 65th birthday we honour the greatest Belgian athlete ever. 

Congratulations to Mr Merckx although I'm sure they could have done a better job with his likeness.  It doesn't look that much like Eddy to me.

Fresh Out The Box

I just bought a new pair of Sidi Ergo 2 Carbon Lite shoes in black vernice.  I was so close to going for them in white vernice but changed my mind at the last minute.  It's ok for the pro's, they have multiple pairs of them, but for me black will be much more practical.

Features include carbon sole, new micro-adjustable caliper buckle, soft instep closure system, Lorica which according to Sidi is a leather made from the most sophisticated technology (Does that have anything to do with genetically modified cows?) and of course the adjustable heel retention device.  Added to all this beautiful Italian fineness are Look Keo cleats which I fitted and tested out last night.

Although I still have a pair of white Specialized S-Works from 2008 I decided to buy these Sidi's because of their fit, durability and of course looks.   I've had two pairs of Sidi's in the past and both were/are a perfect fit.  I've been told by a knowledgeable source from one of my LBSs that Sidi's are suited better to people with narrower feet whereas Specialized, and I've heard Bont too, are better suited to a wider foot.

I can't wait to take them out on a proper ride.

(P.S All the above images were taken with Betty's latest piece of Japanese wizardry, the Nikon D700.)

Kristof Ramon Images

Heinrich Haussler

Gennady Mikhailov

The late Frank 'VDB' Vandenbroucke

Tom Boonen

All these fantastic images were taken by Kristof Ramon.  To see more of his work click here.

What Are Yasso 800's?

My Brother-in-law recently completed the London marathon in a time of 3:40:36 knocking an impressive twenty five minutes off his previous best time.  The training he did was undoubtedly better in terms of quantity and quality compared with the preperation for his previous marathon.

One of the elements of his improved training plan for London was Yasso 800's.  They are basically a form of interval training developed by endurance athlete Bart Yasso.  Here's what Andy Johns from Made To Run has to say about Yasso 800's:

The concept is simple. One day per week for several weeks leading up to a marathon you mix interval training into your weekly run schedule. The intervals should consist of 800 meter runs. If you’re aiming for a 4 hour marathon finish time, then run your 800 meter interval in 4 minutes. Jog for another 4 minutes and then repeat by running another 800 meters in 4 minutes. And if you’re trying to run a 3 hour marathon then do 3 minute 800 meter intervals followed by 3 minutes of jogging, and repeat. Do this until you can do 10 total repetitions in a given workout at your marathon goal pace. After 2 or 3 months of Yasso 800’s along with your typical marathon training schedule you should be prepared to charge the marathon and complete it at your target pace based on the Yasso intervals. Easy and effective!


Keep in mind though that you need to include recovery time in your training. Do not run Yasso 800’s within 10-14 days of your marathon race date. Also remember to ease into them and don’t try to crush a 2 minute 800 meter interval 10 times in your first week! Marathon training is a lesson in patience and persistence. Slow and steady improvements is the name of the game.

I'll be introducing Yasso 800's into my training schedule very soon as I have a half then a full marathon to run in August and September.  I'll post an update on how I'm getting along with them in the coming months.

Watered Down

It turns out that Switerland's Thomas Frei isn't the sharpest tool in the box as I had considered in a recent Twitter post.  According to Cycling News Frei claims that if he'd drank enough water prior to a visit from dope control the micro dosage of EPO he'd taken the night before would have gone undetected and he'd now be preparing for his next race.

Frei claimed that if he had drank enough water after the injection, the urine test would not have shown the EPO. He didn't drink the required litre of water however, even when the controller arrived at six o'clock the next morning.

“I would otherwise now be preparing for the Giro d'Italia,” he noted.

It had never crossed my mind that Frei's EPO masking agent of choice would be a litre of water!  I'm far from an expert on this subject but I suppose drinking plenty of water helps dilute the blood and thus reduces the chances of performance enhancing drugs being detected.  But does it really work?  If so then surely Frei must go down as being one of the dumbest cheats in the history`of cycling. I mean all he had to do was reach for the Evian and he'd now be preparing to support Cadel in the mountains.

Pro riders please take note.  Always have at least one litre of water to hand, especially if you've taken a micro dosage of EPO the night before. It really isn't much to ask!

Fight For Pink

The route and profile of this years Giro d'Italia can been seen here.

Yuji Yamada Art

Great cycling inspired art (acrylic, pastel on wood panel) from Yuji Yamada in Japan.

Today At The London Marathon

Here's a photo of my brother-in-law Dave looking pretty fresh considering he was already at mile fifteen of today's London marathon.  A big congratulations goes to him for smashing his personal best time by around twenty five minutes with a time of 3:40:36.  Bloody brilliant!  The beers will be well deserved tonight.

Liége-Bastogne-Liége Route Map

Today's Ride

Peloton

Wicked and original artwork courtesy of NÖ GALLERY.

2012 Olympics Cycling Poster

I'm excited already!

The Escape Artist

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog you’ll know that I occasionally post book reviews.  Only thing is the books aren’t always newly released.  Matt Seaton’s The Escape Artist was first published back in 2002 but I only finished reading it recently so for those of you that haven’t read it, here is my review.

The Escape Artist is the poignant memoir of Matt Seaton’s life as an amateur racing cyclist and the tragic early death of his wife to cancer.  Essentially it’s a story of passion and loss.

Seaton guides the reader through his life from a young age when he wasn’t too interested in cycling.  As time passes not only does he meet his future wife, Ruth Picardie, but his passion for cycling grows into an obsession.

Some of my friends say I’m obsessed with cycling; after all it’s a subject I enjoy talking and blogging about.  I can think of nothing better than to get on my bike at the weekend and pedal away a few hours with some of my friends.  Seaton’s passion for cycling grew into a much more consuming obsession than mine.  For a start he shaved his legs, something I have never done, or had need to do, and for a relatively short period he raced on a regular basis, another thing I haven’t done.  Cycling was his life.  The apex of Seaton’s cycling passion came at something of a carefree time in his life allowing him to push himself to the physical limits necessary to succeed in higher category races.

In the latter part of the book Seaton starts to doubt whether he’ll be able to continue his life as an amateur racer.  He and his wife get married and eventually they have twins.  The realities of life quickly take hold and Seaton’s racing comes to a halt.  Eighteen months later he and his families life is turned upside down when his wife finds out she has breast cancer.  Many of us have been touched by a family member or friend having cancer, I know I have.  For it to happen to Seaton’s wife still in her thirties and with two young children must have been hard for him to bear.

There is absolutely no sign of self pity in the pages that follow the loss of Seaton’s wife.  He explains how he receives a lot of support from close family and friends in looking after the children, so much so that he’s able to get out on the bike again with his faithful cycling buddy Mick.  In fact one gets the impression that it’s Seaton’s return to cycling that helps get him through his loss.  Like a form of therapy he’s able to peddle through the pain.

Thought provoking and immensely readable, The Escape Artist is unique within the genre of cycling related books and a must read.

The Escape Artist is published by Fourth Estate.

RIP Guru

I just found out that rapper Guru recently passed away after a long battle with Multiple myeloma.  Guru went into cardiac arrest on 28th February 2010 then following surgery went into coma.  He apparently woke from coma but died on 19th April 2010.

As well as forming and starring as part of the Jazzmatazz collaboration, Guru along with DJ Premier made up one of my all time favourite rap groups, Gang Starr.  Back in the early 90's they were right at the top of my playlist.  I'm very sorry to here this sad news, Guru will be sorely missed.

Tour Of Britain 2010 Route Map

Weekend Trip

Good job they put that sign there! (Photo taken at Guernsey ferry port)

Last weekend was rather eventful for Betty and I.  We attended the wedding of some friends on the beautiful Island of Herm near Guernsey in the Channel Isalnds.  We were supposed to fly from London Gatwick to Guernsey on Friday afternoon, a journey of around one hour.  Getting from Guernsey to Herm is a pleasant twenty minute ferry ride.

Unfortunately it didn't pan out that way.  All airspace in the UK was closed due to the volcanic erruption in Iceland that sent potentially dangerous ash into the air.  We ended up taking a coach from London Gatwick to Poole, then a four hour ferry to Guernsey, then the final short ferry trip to Herm.  It was a long day travelling but in the end worth it.  The sun shone for the entire weekend, the bride and groom had a great wedding and amazingly only eight guests didn't make it.  Pretty impressive considering the travel chaos happening in Europe right now.

Then on Sunday it was time to try to get back to the UK mainland.  Of course the UK airspace was still closed and still is at the time of writing this.  Luckily Betty and I managed to get a ferry late last night which arrived into Weymouth just before midnight.  It was too late to travel back to London so we checked into a hotel and made it back to London by train today around lunch time.  A few of the other wedding guests weren't so fortunate.  With Germany, Japan and North Amercia being some of their final destinations who knows when they'll make it home?

Will Frischkorn Riding The Cobbles

Will Frischkorn (Garmin-Transitions) riding the cobbles. Plus views and perspectives from Martijn Maaskant and David Millar on this years Paris-Roubaix.

Quote For The Day

I thought, I’d better let this motorbike come by, but when I turned around and looked it was Cancellara.

- Bernhard Eisel, Tour of Flanders

London To Clacton-on-Sea

Last Saturday I cycled from London to Clacton-on-Sea, a distance of 142.51km (88.55 miles). I'm happy with it for two reasons. The first is that it was the longest distance I've ridden so far this year. The second is that my friend Phil who has only relatively recently got back on a bike joined me on the ride. He made it all the way and it was the furthest he had ever ridden. Although it was hard for both of us, particularly in the last 30km riding into a head wind, we both really enjoyed it.

The distance of the ride should have been about 10km shorter but we managed, well actually I, managed to take us on an unintentional diversion between Maldon and Witham. You can see on the map the big U shape where we went wrong. In the end though it didn't matter, the sun shone pretty much the whole way and apart from the head wind at the end it was a great day out which ended in Clacton overlooking the beach and a well deserved late lunch of fish and chips. Then it was a train back to Liverpool Street, in central London, and a final short ride home.

Saxo Bank Train

Seen here.

Roubaix Velodrome

roubaix velodrome #3 - prx

roubaix velodrome #4 - prx

roubaix velodrome #1 - prx

All the fantastic images above are by Jakob Kristian Sørensen.  You can see much more of his work over at velopresse.dk.

Guess Who?

Photo:REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Yes I know that's an easy one to answer.  At yesterday's Paris-Roubaix with over 50km to go Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) rode away from his rivals like he was riding a motorbike.  He built up a lead that at one point came to more than three minutes. In the end Cancellara rode solo into the Roubaix velodrome with over two minutes on the chase group to win this year's 108th edition of Paris-Roubaix.  It was a magnificent performance and his second in this race having first won it back in 2006.

I wanted the double, I wanted to do something that left a mark in the history of cycling," said Cancellara after his win. "Many great riders have won this race and it’s an honour for me to now have won it twice like the late Franco Ballerini did. That's just one of the reasons why I wanted to do the double. 

Cancellara is in the absolute form of his life at the moment.  In the space of two weeks he's won the E3 Prijs-Harelbeke, Tour of Flanders and now Paris-Roubaix.

I hadn't planned to attack in that moment," said Cancellara, echoing his comments after Flanders a week prior. "But that's racing, it's important to seize the right moment and I got it exactly right. When I went, the gap was there and it was increasing, so I went full gas but with a little left just in case because there was a long way to go. But I made it.

Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) finished second and third respectively rounding off the podium at two minutes down.

Cancellara becomes only the twelfth rider to have won Paris-Roubaix twice, joining names such as Rik Van Steenbergen, Sean Kelly, Marc Madiot, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and of course the recently departed Franco Ballerini.

Having now won three different Monuments, Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the question is will Cancellara target victory in the remaining two Monuments, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Giro di Lombardia? It is surely within his capabilities to achieve such an accomplishment and in doing so place himself as one of the all time greats of cycling?  At the age of 29 and coming into what should be his prime the next three to four seasons will likely see him reaching even greater heights.  How high, we'll have to wait and see.

Major wins include:

Tour de France, 5 Stages
Vuelta a España, 2 Stages
Paris-Roubaix (2006, 2010)
Milan-San Remo (2008)
Ronde van Vlaanderen (2010)
Monte Paschi Eroica (2008)
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen (2010)
Tour de Suisse (2009)
Tirreno-Adriatico (2008)
World Time-Trial Champion (2006, 2007, 2009)
National Time-Trial Champion (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
National Road-Race Champion (2009)
Olympic Time Trial Champion (2008)

The Arenburg Forest

Seen here.

With a maximum hardness rating of five the Arenburg Forest is a 2400 metre long sector of cobbles and is the 18th of 28 cobbled sectors that help give Paris-Roubaix it's justified nickname, The Hell of the North.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the Arenburg Forest:

First used in 1968. A straight road through the forêt domaniale de Raismes/Saint-Amand/Wallers, dropping slightly at first, then rising. The altitude is 25m at the start and 19m at the end.

The Trouée d'Arenberg, Tranchée d'Arenberg, (Trench of Arenberg), Trouee de Wallers Arenberg, has become the symbol of Paris–Roubaix. Officially 'La Drève des Boules d'Herin', the 2400m of cobbles were laid in the time of Napoleon I through the Raismes Forest-Saint-Amand-Wallers, close to Wallers and Valenciennes. The road was proposed for Paris–Roubaix by former professional Jean Stablinski, who had worked in the mine under the woods of Arenberg. The mine closed in 1990 and the passage is now preserved. Although almost 100 km from Roubaix, the sector usually proves decisive and as Stablinski said,

Paris-Roubaix is not won in Arenburg, but from there the group with the winners is selected.

A memorial to Stablinski stands at one end of the road.

Introduced in 1968, the passage was closed from 1974 to 1983 by the Office National des Fôrets. Until 1998 the entry to the Arenberg pavé was slightly downhill, leading to a sprint for best position. The route was reversed in 1999 to reduce the speed. This was as a result of Johan Museeuw's crash in 1998 as World Cup leader, which nearly cost his leg to gangrene. In 2005 the Trouée d'Arenberg was left out, organisers saying conditions had deteriorated beyond safety limits. Abandoned mines had caused sections to subside. The regional and local councils spent €250,000 on adding 50 cm to restore the original width of three metres and the race continued using it. The Italian rider Filippo Pozzato said after trying the road after its repairs:

It's the true definition of hell. It's very dangerous, especially in the first kilometre when we enter it at more than 60kh. It's unbelievable. The bike goes in all directions. It will be a real spectacle but I don't know if it's really necessary to impose it on us.

In 2001 a French rider, Philippe Gaumont, broke his femur after falling at the start of the Trouée when leading the peloton. He said:

What I went through, only I will ever know. My knee cap completely turned to the right, a ball of blood forming on my leg and the bone that broke, without being able to move my body. And the pain, a pain that I wouldn't wish on anyone. The surgeon placed a big support [un gros matériel] in my leg, because the bone had moved so much. Breaking a femur is always serious in itself but an open break in an athlete of high level going flat out, that tears the muscles. At 180 beats [a minute of the heart], there was a colossal amount of blood being pumped, which meant my leg was full of blood. I'm just grateful that the artery was untouched.

Gaumont spent a month and a half in bed, unable to move, and was fitted with a 40 mm section fixed just above the knee and, to the head of the femur, with a 12 mm screw.

The cobbles are extremely difficult to ride because of their irregularity. So many fans have taken away cobbles as souvenirs that the Amis de Paris–Roubaix have had to replace them.

Paris-Roubaix Recon - Team Sky

Hell Of The North - Classic Movie Clips

This coming Sunday sees the start of the 108th edition of Paris-Roubaix.  To get you in the mood for this 259km Queen of the Classics I've put together various movies featuring legendary moments from previous editions.

 1985 - Featuring Francesco Moser, Greg LeMond, Sean Kelly and Marc Madiot



1996 - Featuring Johan Museeuw, Gianluca Bortolami and Andrea Tafi make it 1,2,3 for the Mapei boys.



2001 - Featuring George Hincapie



2007 - Conquering Roubaix featuring Stuart O'Grady



2009 - Beyond The Peloton / Paris-Roubaix

Cancellara's Bike Change

Unbeknown to me something incredible happened while I was sipping Rodenbachs up on the Muur last Sunday.  The movie below has been doing the rounds recently and although many of you will have already seen Fabian Cancellara's super efficient bike change I've had to post it up here for those of you who haven't yet had a look.

Cancellara unclips and nonchalantly hops off his bike onto the cobbles at a fair speed then, on his cleated feet, has a short run along the cobbles to his replacement bike, being held by a mechanic.  He hops onto the new machine and is back riding with the peloton all in the space of five seconds.

It's almost as though the team had been practicing the bike change drill in training.  Maybe they had been.  Those few moments were crucial to Cancellara's success on Sunday and displayed the kind of all round composure, planning and sheer talent which justifies Cancellara and his Saxo Bank Team as the best in the business. Other teams take heed.

(this video has been removed. If I find a replacement I will post here (note: 10 April 2012))

Free online screen recorder

Pros Climbing The Kapelmuur

Here's a small sample of the many photos Betty took of the male pros climbing the Kapelmuur during last Sundays Tour of Flanders.  A big thanks goes to Betty for positioning herself at the same spot on top of the Muur, opposite the Chapel, for the best part of four hours prior to the riders arriving.  If it wasn't for her these great images would never have been taken, especially since for much of that time I was watching the race on the TV in the bar a few metres further down the hill.

I've been able to name all the riders except for the two from Liquigas and one from Cervelo Test Team.  If anyone knows their names please let me know.

(Thanks to Richard for identifying the two Liquigas riders)

Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank)

 Tom Boonen (Quick Step)

Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)

 David Millar (Garmin - Transitions)

George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team)

Leif Hoste (Omega Pharma-Lotto)

 Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team)

Danilo Hondo (Lampre-Farnese Vini)

 Lance Armstrong (Team Radioshack)

Geraint Thomas (Sky Professional Cycling Team)

Bernhard Eisel (Team HTC - Columbia)

Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas)

Frederik Willems (Liquigas)

Cervelo Test Team

Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

 Michael Barry (Sky Professional Cycling Team)

Mark Cavendish (Team HTC - Columbia)

  
You can see more of Betty's excellent work here and here.

Tour Of Flanders: Our Pre Race Build Up

Betty and I had a really good time in Belgium riding our bikes and watching the Tour of Flanders this past weekend.  It was so easy to get there, I can't believe it took me this long to experience first hand a classics race.  Having had a taste of what Belgium and in particular the Flemish region of Ardennes has to offer I will certainly be making plans to head over there again very soon.

Here are just a few of the many images Betty and I took prior to the elite mens race.  They include a couple of images from Saturday but most are from Sunday including a few images from the womens race.  I have to hold my hand up in shame and admit I don't know the names of the women shown below.

Me outside of a Peter Van Petergem supporters club.  I'd loved to have been able to have a beer and chat with the boys in there but we were wet through and both in need of a hot bath.

Me in front of the Chapel on top of the Muur having just ridden up it, without putting a foot down!

Supporters gather on top of the Muur.

 Tom Boonen ultra.

The skinny little kids could show us adults a thing or two about hill climbing.

The photographers getting ready for the big day.

The pro women hammering it up the Muur.

The Welsh representing!

The fake Eddy Merckx making his second assent of the Muur. Respect!

Tomorrow I'll be publishing many fantastic images taken by Betty of the elite men.