surviving the pavé

i was listening to a very interesting interview on the flammecast podcast with cyclingfilm's markus neuert the other day.  in it he talked about a new, behind the scenes, documentary he had recently filmed called surviving the pavé.  split into three parts the series documents team netapp's first appearance at paris-roubaix. episode one introduces the team and it's riders and sets the stage for things to come.







for more details about cyclingfilm's projects click here.

introducing the pub bike

i can't believe it has taken me this long, 665 posts to be exact, to mention my good old faithful 1997 kona lava dome aka the pub bike.  she has certainly served me well over the years.  my cannondale r800 bought in 2001 was my first experience with a road bike, before that i had owned many different mountain bikes since my teenage years.  my lava dome is the last mountain bike i bought before switching to riding almost exclusively road bikes.

from the moment i got my cannondale the lava dome became the pub bike.  it sounds disrespectful but it is a key role for the bicycle.  my pub bike also doubles up as the shopping bike.  actually, until today it was my de rosa neo primato that was being used for pub and shopping duties.  it is a risky business leaving a bike like that outside the shops even if the lock is a good one.

the reason i now mention the lava dome is because today i showed her a little tlc, or rather a trusted mechanic called bart who works at london fields cycles did (incidentally bart is moving back home to poland in june.  lfc will be loosing an excellent mechanic).  she got new tyres, chain set, chain, cassette and cables.  by doing this i have pulled her back out of retirement (she was sat in storage).  it is a tough call but i would rather have the kona nicked than my prized re rosa which is easily my favourite machine so it is a relief to have her back.

Betty and i are moving to bath in a months time and expect to do more riding over cross style and mudding canal path terrian whilst still taking full advantage of the hilly country lanes.  the kona will be perefect for the rougher terrain.  she is pretty heavy at eleven kilos but has a great gear ratio with a triple on the front for climbing hills.

i spent a fare wedge on the kona today, in fact i have spent many hundreds of pounds keeping her running smoothly over the years. she is like the bike version of an antique car that regularly needs parts replacing.  since i bought her i have replaced the handlebars, wheels, stem, rear mech, chain set, tires, chain, cassette, break pads, handlebar grips and saddle plus endless lengths of cables.  bart the mechanic mentioned the seatpost is bent and he suggested i replace it with a thomson. nice choice but of course that will mean another upgrade although i can easily pursuade myself when it comes to bike component upgrades.  money well spent i always think.

made in italy

ugly yet beautiful, with all the curves and different sized tubing i cannot make my mind up on the aesthetics of mario cipollini's italian designed and fabricated  rb1000 monocoque carbon frame.  one thing is for sure though, the bike is super responsive judging by the way andrea guardini sprinted so powerfully to victory in the first stage of the tour of turkey.  check out the video below which showcases all the benefits of the rb1000.  cipollini also gets a chance to show he is still a speed demon and unapologetically vain, you will see what i mean when you watch the video.

MCipollini Official Video from Mcipollini on Vimeo.

more riding = faster

sometimes it takes doing the obvious things to reinforce the reality. for example i have been riding my bikes more over the past few weeks than i had for many months. although most of these rides have been of the less than inspiring variety, i.e. doing loops around local parks, what i have found is that all this riding is making me faster. the details of yesterdays ride, shown above, prove this particularly since my average speed of 31.2 km/h is higher than usual. in fact i do not think i have ever posted such a quick average speed, apart from a shorter tt style ride. i know the speed is modest compared to some but for me this equals major progress.

at the moment i am in a position to be able to train every day, which i do. typically i will either run or cycle for five, six or seven days of the week then have a day off. sounds a bit hardcore i know but my body is used to it and, i am tempting fate by saying this, i never get injured. actually i was going to title this post something like training is a pleasure, or training for trainings sake since i am not entered into any races or sportives. i decided to change my mind on the title though having had such a successful morning on the bike yesterday.

there is not much science in the way that i train.  i just get out there and do it, junk miles some might say.  when i need to train specific, as i did for my last marathon, i do devise a plan and structure my training, including the dreaded interval sessions, but as i say i am not entered for anything so am able to properly enjoy my training without any pressure.  the only thing i wanted to do was move my training focus away from running, just a little, in order to improve on the bike.  to do that all i have done is simply replaced a one or two running sessions, each week, with bike sessions.  the result has been that my leg muscles are hardening up again and am building stamina which is clearly noticeable, i can hold higher speeds for longer and it feels so good.

i am a training junkie and draw immense pleasure from the simple act of working out (aren't our bodies meant for this?  i mean sustained physical endurance on a regular basis rather than sitting on our arses all day getting fat.  maybe that is another topic for another post).  if i do not get a session in pretty much every day i get edgy.  as i write this i already have a plan to get a 16km run completed in the next couple of hours.  training outdoors is a very pleasant experience at the moment.  for those outside of the uk we are experiencing consistently good weather with temperatures hitting highs of 27c here in london and it is only april, the tan is coming along very well indeed!

after the battle

via: velodramatic

these images from this years paris-roubaix race were all taken by professional photographer michael robertson, the man behind the velodramatic website.  i am a massive fan of his work which is always exceptionally high quality, he must surely be one of the best in the business right now.

the tour of britain 2011

this years tour of britain will comprise of eight stages and will run from 11th to 18th september. i will make sure i am at the stage six finish in wells since i am relocating very soon from london to bath in somerset which is not too far from the stage six finish.

for further details on the tour of britain click here.

paris-roubaix 91, after the finish

via: numerius

i know i should not laugh but this photo cracks me up every time I look at it.  poor greg lemond is so wasted he looks like he does not even have the energy to eat his sandwich and drink his coke.  seeing this photo seals the decision and promise that i will never ride the paris-roubaix sportive!

lemond finished 55th that day behind french two time winner marc madiot.

keiren: speed racers

Keirin: Speed Racers on Nowness.com.
a documentary looking at the high-octane and lucrative world of japan's cycling spectacle.

heaven and hell

congratulations to belgian johan van summeren and garmin-cervelo for winning this years 109th edition of paris-roubaix.  in taking victory van summeren and the team showed it was again possible, after last weeks tour of flanders win for nick nuyens, to defeat big favourite fabian cancellara when the tactics of the team come together perfectly.  by saying this i take nothing away from van summeren who is no stranger to the cobbles of northern france.  with previous placings of eighth (2008) and fifth (2009) he had already proved he could inflict damage on the opposition.

for thirty year old van summeren this victory will easily go down as the biggest win of his career and will now propel him into the star status enjoyed by current garmin-cervelo classics leaders thor hushovd, heinrich haussler and tyler farrar.  although yesterday's victory was indeed a great team victory will there now be too many chiefs at the team?  time will tell, i will not be surprised if we see one of these men leave the team at the end of the season.

even though the race was run under dry conditions there were many crashes and mechanical mishaps.  for example, check out the video below.  it shows the peloton enter and pass through the infamous arenburg forest where tom boonen ended up being stranded for a long time with a mechanical problem before being given a replacement bike.  what was more interesting though is the parts of the video where we see the riders racing over the cobbles from the perspective of the motorbike cameraman as they hold the camera low and give an upward view, at times i thought i was watching the race in fast forward, the riders were going so fast!



also, check out the footage below of another infamous sector of cobbles, the carrefour de l'arbre.  it is on this stretch of pavé that van summeren was given the go-ahead by garmin-cervelo's team manager jonathan vaughters to launch his winning move.  i found it slightly troubling at the time and still do that even after van summeren makes his move his teammate thor hushovd can be seen leading the chasing group.  all the riders had race radios so there should not have been any issues with regard to lack of communication.  maybe i am mistaken on this point but thought it worth mentioning.  that said hushovd does not continue chasing after a short(ish) period of time.

go roger!

 

photo: timm kölln

with a third place in 2004 and a fourth place in 2010 roger hammond must surely go down as being britain's most experienced and successful rider to race in what is arguably the greatest and most famous one day classic in the world, paris-roubaix.

take a look at the fastinating feature on the rapha website by hammond telling us all about his racing exploits at paris-roubaix.  he also decribes how best to ride over cobbles including staying relaxed and laying off using the brakes.

roger hammond will be working for thor hushovd and heinrich haussler this sunday but if he manages to get himself into the lead group like he did last year, then who knows, we could see him entering the velodrome as one of the leaders.  i will be shouting for him.

l'eroica

i know we are in the midsts of the spring classics season and here i am posting about l'eroica, a gran fondo held every october in the beautiful rolling hills of italy's tuscany region.  hear me out though, i just came across a great short documentary, on velogogo, all about l'eroica which inspired me to write this post now rather than waiting. 

starting in the town of gaiole, in chianti, the event celebrates vintage racing bicycle culture and is ridden over four distances, 38km, 75km, 135km and 205km.  although not related, the l'erioca like it's professional road racing counterpart the montepaschi strade bianchi, passes over the famous strade bianchi (white gravel roads) that help characterise the event and region's uniqueness.

entrants to l'eroica can only ride the event on racing bicycles from before 1987 and it is also suggested in the rules to have the right sportswear, following the historical style of the event. this is not a problem for the people who take part who love all things bicycle retro as does the cycling enthusiast who initiated l'eroica, giancarlo brocci.

in the beautifully filmed short documentary called l'eroica, by edouardi sepulchro, brocci talks about how he first started an event in 1995 on normal roads in honor of italy's great champion gino bartoli.  it was not until 1997 that l'eroica was launched as a bonus race with the emphasis on it more as a bike ride than a competition.  from that point on the event, with it's traditional charm and romance, went from strength to strength, attracting nearly 3500 entrants in recent editions.


L'EROICA (english version) from Edouardi Sepulchro on Vimeo.

l'eroica, how intoxicating, with it's mix of old bikes and uniforms as well as the rolling strade bianche and not forgetting the sumptuous italian food and wine, it all gets me thinking.... ah yes, things to do before i die, i am adding l'eroica to the list.  this also gives me a great excuse to buy a pre 1987 road bike, yay!

www.eroica-ciclismo.it

 

p.s back to the subject of the spring classics, did you see belgian's outside favourite nick nuyens win the tour of flanders on sunday?  i reckon it was the best race of the season so far.  if you happened to have missed it you can check out the last 5km here.  hats off to quickstep for sending sylvain chavanel up the road early doors, it nearly paid off although it was nuyens who benefited in the end.  great ride by chavanel though, he is an escape artist extraordinaire and unlucky to have not won the race himself.

Beyond The Peloton - 01 milan-san remo 2011

here is another great offering from the beyond the peloton team looking back at the recently raced italian classic milan-san remo.

also looking forward to the tour of flanders this sunday you can see i am getting in the spirit of things with the new kapelmuur image header which was actually taken by my wife betty at last years edition of the race. you can check out a few of the photos she took that day at her flickr site here.

you should be able to find live streaming for sundays big race here, here and here.