Remembering Geelong

I know the UCI World Championships in Geelong are all but a distant memory but I'd like to take this opportunity to show some very cool images taken during the elite men's time trial.  What I really like about them is that the photographer managed to clearly capture the intense focus and effort on the faces of the riders even though the riders were hammering past at speed.

Many thanks to Serg aka Keko for giving me the opportunity to publish these images.  You can check more of his excellent work by clicking here.

Fabian Cancellara

Tony Martin

Luis Leon Sanchez

Gustav Larsson

Pulse Jet Board Racer Bicycle

You might be thinking what's this got to do with bicycles? And no it isn't Fabian Cancellara's latest ride.  Granted, it's more a motorbike than a bicycle but as soon as I saw it (you've got to admit it looks pretty insane) I new I wanted to post something about it.

Bob Maddox from Oregon in the USA had the idea to strap a pulse jet engine to an old-school Electra bicycle that he's done a fantatsic job of customising with lots of shiny chrome.  He built the engine himself too.  Apparently the pulse jet engine was invented 100 years ago and was used to power the German V-1 Flying Bomb in World War II!

Check out the footage below of Bob cruising along at nearly 70 mph with flames blowing out the back of those two oversized exhausts.  I want a go!

Ride Maps

Below are maps for the last two rides I've done.  As you can see I haven't been out on my bike enough recently.  What with one thing and another getting in the way it's probably been my leanest period on the bike so far this year.  However, just because we'll shortly be heading into winter, here in the UK, doesn't mean I have to continue this trend, on the contrary.  I'll be making sure I get out for a long ride at least once per week through the winter months, weather permitting.

The first map is a ride I did a few weeks back through the beautifully bleak and rugged North Yorkshire Moors.  It's just not possible to get away from 15% to 30% gradients (no kidding) in this part of the country.  Luckily for me I managed to miss the most severe of gradients on this ride especially since I was riding the De Rosa which gearing wise isn't set up for such unforgiving steepness.  The best thing about this ride was the first stretch over the high moors towards Pickering.  I must have only seen three cars in an hour.  It was just me and the sheep.  You just don't get that kind of luxury riding in and around London.  I mean the lack of cars not the sheep.

The second map below was from last Saturday. Alex and I spun around Regent's Park on what is a somewhat boring curcuit unless you get in with a group. I was really out of condition having not ridden for a while and I could tell. Most of my cycling fitness from the summer has faded and the ride showed me I can no longer maintain a high tempo without blowing up fairly quickly. That said, it was good to blow away the cobwebs. I'll use it as a stepping stone to get back to some sort reasonable shape that I can sensibly maintain until spring arrives.

RC Mag - Issue #1

There's a new Chilian online bicycle magazine out called RC Mag.  It's well put together and very user friendly.  It's also refreshing to learn a little more about bike culture in a part of the world other than the usual locations.  Check out RC Mag by clicking here. (You'll find the mag on the righthand side of the screen)

Motor-Paced

Motor-Paced. Seen here.

Solo Équipe Jersey

I've got a great retro-style autumn/winter jersey for sale from Solo.  It's in nearly new condition, I only wore it once.  I don't really want to part with it but it's slighty small hence the sale.  I paid £120 for it and bidding will start at £30.  I've just listed it on Ebay with an end time of 31st October.  Below is what Solo say about their jersey:

Our aim when designing the Solo Équipe jersey was to create an iconic jersey that will become a favourite piece of cycle clothing. Tailored from ‘Mapp Tech’ fabric, the Équipe jersey is wind and water resistant on the outside with luxurious Merino Wool next to the skin. A bold central contrast stripe highlights the cool Solo logo created in flocking. On the back are two large button-fastened pockets – true retro style. The knitted wrist and neck bands are merino wool. A quality full-length reflective zip completes the jersey. Designed primarily for use on the bike, the Solo Équipe jersey is smart enough to wear off the bike as well.

If your interested in making a bid click here.  Happy bidding!

Giro d'Italia 2011 Route

With 40 major climbs and seven mountain finishes the 2011 Giro d'Italia is going to be awesome!

For detailed course information click here.

Ride Of My Life - The Story Of The Bicycle

Here's a nice bit of weekend viewing for all the cycle nerds out there.  Author and cycling enthusiast Rob Penn travels the world gathering together all the parts he needs to make up his ultimate custom built dream bicycle, a bike he can ride every day for the rest of his life.  Think Continental tyres from Germany, Cinelli handlebars and Campagnolo groupset from Italy, handbuilt wheels and Chris King headset from the USA etc and you get a feel for how the story unfolds. Along the way Penn puts his journey into historical context and also includes unique interviews with some of cyclings industry greats.

At a cost of just over £4000 I think Penn does a great job with his custom build although surely there should have been a trip to France for either Look or Time pedals.

This 60 minute BBC documentary orginally shown in the UK a couple of months back is broken down into six parts. Enjoy!

Mont Ventoux From The Air

Soaring along Mont Ventoux from Stephane VANDER VEKEN on Vimeo.

Delhi Velodrome

I'm a massive fan of the tilt-shift technique of photography which is often used for simulating a minature scene. I think the photographer who took the image below may have used a similar method, although you'll find my all time favourite cycling related example of tilt-shift photography if you click here. Oh, and you'll find another cool example here.

Tour de France 2011 Route Map And 3D Flythrough

I'm already looking forward to the Galibier and L'Alpe d'Huez mountain top finishes.  I've ridden up both before and hope to be in France again next year to see for myself how quickly the pro's ride up them.  I better get my hotel booked!

Six Jours De Grenelle á Bercy

Below are some beautiful illustrations of scenes commemorating the last days of the great Six Day races at the Vélodrome d’Hiver (Winter Velodrome) in Paris.

I found the illustrations over at the always excellent Elcyclista online journal and simply couldn't resist profiling them here.  Do check out Elcyclista to see more of these fantastic images as well as the story and history behind them.

The Tragic End Of Henri Pélissier

In yesterday's post I mentioned that Frenchman Henri Pélissier, along with Irishman Sean Kelly, is the most most successful non-Italian in the Giro di Lombardia with three wins.  Pélissier who raced professionally between 1911 and 1924 was a major talent of his time.  Not only did he have major success in Lombardia but he also won Paris-Roubaix twice, Milan-San Remo, Bordeaux-Paris and the big one the Tour de France all once.

One would think Pélissier should have been a content and happy man with all his success but alas he lived a troubled life.  His squabbles with Tour organiser Henri Desgrange are well documented but it his relationship with his wife that I'd like to tell you more about here.

I'm currently reading a fascinating book called Tourmen: The Men Who Made The Tour de France by Les Woodland.  In chapter 5 Woodland gives an insight into Pélissier's life and the unfortunate relationships with the women in his life:

Pélissier was ahead of his time but his life was never happy.  Maybe it was conceit at so much talent, of being the sort of man who gets hailed in the street by Tour de France winners, a man whom stars take to Italy on a whim.  Léonie, his wife, despaired of him and shot herself in 1933.  Three years later Henri took a lover, Camille Tharault, who was 20 years younger.  He loved her and called her Miette but their life was row after row.  On May 1, 1935, in the kitchen of their villa at Dampierre, outside Paris, Pélissier lunged with a knife, cutting her face.  She ran in tears to their bedroom, pulled out the revolver with which Léonie had shot herself, ran back to the kitchen and found Pélissier waiting with the knife.

She pulled the trigger five times.  A bullet hit him in the carotid artery and blood spurted across the room. His body was placed in the room where Léonie had killed herself.  Next day, Paris-Soir screamed

THE TRAGIC END OF HENRI PÉLISSIER surprises no-one at Dampierre

'If I'd had the money I would have left him long ago' the murderess said yesterday

Camille's trial opened a year later.  She pleaded self-defence and got a year's suspended jail sentence.  It was as close as the court could come to acquitting her.

Pélissier is just a name in history these days.  But he's not forgotten.  At the entrance to the Piste Municipale in Paris, one of the oldest tracks in Europe, is a bas-relief of him and his brothers, Charles and Francis.  It was commissioned and paid for by spectators grateful for the pride they brought France.

Madonna del Ghisallo

This Saturday sees the last of the classics, in this years cycling calender, take place with the Giro di Lombardia aka the Race of the Falling Leaves.  The 104th edition of this beautiful race starts in Milan and works it's way up and around Lake Como, in northern Italy, before finishing some 260km later in the city of Como.

Busts of Gino Bartoli and Fausto Coppi stand outside the entrance to the Madonna del Ghisallo

Many famous riders have claimed victory in this historical race.  Fausto Coppi won it a record five times, Alfredo Binda four times, Costante Girardengo, Gino Bartoli and more recently Damiano Cunego won it three times for Italy.  The most successful of the non-Italian riders were France's Henri Pélissier and Ireland's Sean Kelly also with three wins each.  I'll be writing more about Pélissier in tomorrow's post.

Before reaching the finish line the riders have to tackle some tough hills including the Madonna del Ghisallo.  Standing at 754 metres the Madonna is only the third highest climb yet it's the most well known of the three made famous by the small church at the top hill also called the Madonna del Ghisallo.

Both hill and Church are named after a legendary Marian apparition.  Wikipedia has this to say about the Madonna del Ghisallo:

According to the legend, the Medieval count Ghisallo was being attacked by bandits when he saw an image of Virgin Mary at a shrine. He ran to it and was saved from the robbers. The apparition became known as the Madonna del Ghisallo, and she became a patroness of local travellers. In later times, Madonna del Ghisallo (the hill) was made part of the Giro di Lombardia bicycle race.

In 1949 a local priest, Father Ermelindo Vigano, proposed that Madonna del Ghisallo (the apparition) be declared the patroness of cyclists. This was confirmed by Pope Pius XII. Nowadays the shrine of Madonna del Ghisallo contains a small cycling museum with photos and artifacts from the sport. There also burns an eternal flame for cyclists who have died. One particularly notable artifact is the crumpled bicycle that Fabio Casartelli, a native of the region, rode on the day that he died in a crash in the Tour de France.

Further details about Saturday's Giro di Lombardia race including start lists and streaming info can be found here.

The Funky Chicken

I've been looking for footage of Michael Rasmussen taking part in Denmark's celebrity dance show Wild With Dance for a while now and finally I've found some. Enjoy!

Cycling Jerseys

I'm a sucker for wanting to buy new jersey's. I say wanting because in fact I only possess a mere handful. The designs and colours, especially the retro styles really appeal to me. I wish I was able to pull off wearing them when not on the bike. Alas I'd look like a proper gimp if I did wear them aprez ride. For the time being at least I'll stick to wearing them only during rides.

Below are just a few jersey's that caught my eye whilst trawling the net today. I included the Hot Dog Jersey only for the pure ridiculousness of it although I think it may well be growing on me as well as making me a little hungry!

Seen here.

Seen here.

Seen here.

Seen here.

Church Lane - Whitby

Betty and I just got back from a wonderful weeks holiday in the North Yorkshire Moors here in England.  We stayed close to the seaside town of Whitby.  The ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the North Sea is Whitby's most famous land mark but what was more interesting to me from a cycling perspective is Church Lane which runs to the base of the Abbey and Saint Hilda's Church.  Now I've been to the kapelmuur in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, in fact I've cycled up it but man Church Lane in Whitby is by far and away the steepest cobbled road I've ever witnessed with what I would estimate to be between 20% to 25% gradients.  I didn't attempt to ride up it, it would have ended in failure but I'd really like to know if anyone has.  Looking at the size of the cobbles I would guess it would be near impossible on a road bike.

Monty Young. Collected Works.

In celebration of an extraordinary contribution to British cycling, and founder Monty Young's 80th year, James Straffon presents nine new works, on display, and in association with Condor Cycles.

Spanning beautiful hand-crafted frame lugs created by the highly esteemed and legendary cutter Bill Hurlow, original Condor head badges from the early frames of the 1950's, and erstwhile Condor Mackeson wool jerseys and shorts of yesteryear; this collection of nine canvases encapsulates a prodigious period in British cycling history.

View them along with a selected group of other new works at Stand 33 of the Cycle Show.  7th - 10th October, 2010, Earls Court, London.

Fabian Cancellara Wins Gold

If like me you didn't get a chance to see the elite mens World Time Trial Championship yesterday from Geelong, Australia then take a look at the 15 minute YouTube clip at the bottom of this post.  Not only do we get to see the master Fabian Cancellara take a record 4th gold in the discipline but we also get to see the final big efforts from David Millar, Tony Martin and Richie Porte.

Very well done to Britain's David Millar for taking silver, by all accounts he rode a flawless race but what could he do against the might of Spartacus?  Tony Martin took a well earned bronze with Richie Porte finishing fourth.

In Martin and Porte I think we are looking at future world TT champions in the making.  Both of them are young lads and both still have plenty of room for improvement even though they are already posting some of the quickest times in the business.  The exciting thing is they can both also climb very well too.  Martin has established himself as HTC-Columbia's prime stage racer while Porte held the Pink jersey in this years Giro d'Italia from stages 11 to 13 finishing the race in an impressive 7th overall and winning the Young Rider Jersey competition.  With the mass exodus of riders currently taking place at Saxo-Bank Porte may well prove the shining light for Riis's team next season.