The real BBC Awards

The BBC Sports personality of the year awards took place recently, there were some amazing candidates this year including Jessica Ennis, (my vote outside of cycling) and Phil Taylor in the SPORT of darts as runners up. The winner though was Ap McCoy following his win at the Grand National on his 15th attempt and over 3000 career wins. A good effort but I'm not a fan of horse racing so I decided to start my own BBC awards (Bradbury's (That's me) best cyclist awards).

There were many contenders including Bradley Wiggins but I have to say Mark Cavendish will take it for me.





After a slow start to the season which was hindered by injury the 'Manx Missile' found his form when it counted with five stage wins in the Tour de France including the win on the final day in Paris. Cavendish followed that up by winning the points jersey at the Tour of Spain in September, becoming the first Briton in 21 years to earn the sprinters' title at a Grand Tour. Once again Cavendish has proved he is the world's greatest sprinter on the road and while the Tour de France green jersey still eludes him, the 25-year-old looks primed for continued success. Cycling is right up there when it comes to commitment, effort and overcoming adversity in the world of sport. I haven't mentioned his Olympic efforts because they didn't take place this year but for me he has been this years superstar. So Mark, please accept this trophy from the BBC awards.... Ade you are the runner up but only because Cavendish stole the win in Paris maybe next year.

Is it Ok to be cruel as long as its funny?

Probably not is the answer we should all give! Unless of course it is only close to cruelty then it may just be OK. Meet Alex. He has watched me on my virtual reality trainer for weeks now and like all youngsters loves the idea of playing on video games, add to that his ability as a cyclist and it has been torture for him being banned from the toy in the garage. Well as the ice continues to make cycling an extreme sport and his break dancing and football conversations driving me nuts I relented. I set him up on a mostly downhill section of the Alps, dropped the saddle on the carbon defy as low as it would go (yes I really do use a carbon on the turbo). Alex put on his cycling shorts and Everton top and.... still couldn't fit, so with a cushion on the cross bar of he went. He complained the whole way of a pain in a specific area but kept going.. just like a real rider in the Tour. Maybe he can give up his football and make me proud. Anyway 22 minutes later he covered 8 miles at a max speed of 33mph and while pushing 241 watts he declared he loved it couldn't wait to go again but boy did it hurt and could I put his bike on the machine. Me... well I watched every painful minute sat on my time trial bike next to him before declaring myself the winner... of course.

Just the thing on a winter evening

Track racing is similar to the sprinting world of runners. The difference for me is its purity and variety. Pure because the riders storm around the track on a bike with one gear and no brakes. The gear is fixed so the speed comes from the riders strength and ability to spin the pedals. The variety comes from the different events put on throughout the session, from the sprint, a combination of speed and tactics to the Australian pursuit, a new event in the revolution series. http://www.cyclingrevolution.com/content/en/default_gb.aspx In this event riders are spaced evenly round the track and sprint for the finish. If you are overtaken you are out. The effort in this event and the future star racing make the revolution series well worth the £14 for the four hours entertainment. Just the thing on a cold evening.
While I was there I bought Roule Britannia by William Fotheringham (He was signing books at the event). William has written a number of cycling books but this was the first one of his I have read. It is a history of Brits competing in the Tour D'France. Really worth the read, just to know what the early pioneers did and put up with to compete in the hardest sporting event in the world. Another past time for the winter days perhaps.

Finally, if you prefer to participate than watch have a look at the velodrome timetable. Friday nights are good with a family session for adults and kids with an improvement hour straight after. Well worth a play if nothing else. Everyone should try this at least once in their cycling career. Have a look on http://www.nationalcyclingcentre.com/

Have you ever drowned a puppy?

I hope your answer like mine, is no. My real question is how do you occupy your time when you ride your bike? In a race there is enough going on to occupy your mind, training in a group can be social and the conversation helps the miles go by. Pick a good route and the scenery helps the hours. This is a favourite of mine, but even when it is stunning scenery when you ride the same route sometimes you want a bit more to occupy the time.
Personally I love to think and remember. It is a great time to solve problems and perhaps come up with new ideas for work. The other thing I love to do is think about some of my favourite memories. My Father had a competitive nature, from his days a cross country runner and hockey player to his darts, snooker  and particularly his love of crown green bowls. When I am struggling on a ride I often think about how he would never give up.
My Mother on the other hand is a story teller. There is no better story than reality. Mum was evacuated to Shropshire in the war and lived on a farm with farmer Jones. My favourite stories include the bull that got into the kitchen and the Rooster that chased the children so good old Farmer Jones chopped off its head and, after it finished running around, threw it into the cooking pot.
The other thing all farmers did in those days was breed sheep dogs. This was a commercial venture, they were there to round up the sheep or sell to other farmers and the public. If a puppy didn't look like it was going to be up to task it was often tied in a bag and thrown in the river to drown. They were  known as the runt of the litter, and as much as I hate that this happened it was life on a farm sixty years ago.
Here is my link to the bike. I was riding my new Talon along the promenade at the weekend. As I was riding along and my mind drifted away from Mum and Dad I realised that the bike is noisy, has high resistance in the tyres and is slow compared to the pedigrees I left back in the stable. It wasn't up to the task I want from my bikes. It is my runt of the litter. But then, I'm not a farmer and I wasn't using it for the purpose it was made for (it was mostly tarmac). The other thing about the runts of the litter is they can be tremendous fun, look good and are extremely loyal. They don't mind going out in the rain or cold weather and they recover well from any damage making them much cheaper to look after. Yes,I have a runt of the litter, but I think we are going to be good friends and enjoy our wanderings along the beach without a thought of throwing it in. Can't wait to go for a run through the fields.

The end of my road. I can ride for thirty miles or more along this, I know how lucky I am!

Wirral Mamils round the globe

Pageviews by Countries

United Kingdom 213 United States 185 India 11 New Zealand 5 Singapore 3 Denmark 2 Ireland 2 Argentina 1 Germany 1 Croatia 1 Thought I would show who is looking at the site. Nearly as many from the USA, in fact more this week. Not sure how I feel about that, quite good I suppose. It will be good when the USA has shown more interest!!!

Can you bonk on a turbo trainer?

For those of you that are wondering, and if you aren't a cyclist you probably are, bonking on a bike is the sudden depletion of the riders energy. Runners call it 'hitting the wall', footballers despite their extensive education tend to use a four letter word to describe their physical condition with a similar colloquial meaning to the cyclist's phrase.

I've had a good week end on the bike. Two outdoor rides, just twenty miles each along the river and a session on the turbo trainer on Saturday. I had to get what I could outdoors before the cold weather comes back.  Tonight though was a twenty mile session on my Tacx trainer. I chose a section of the Amstel Gold Classic. Stunning scenery and mountains hitting a 10% gradient. That is the sort of incline that many family cars hit second gear to get up with the engine screaming in protest. As you push the pedals sweating more and the cadence dropping, looking down in disbelief at the one remaining cog you have left to shift into, then, just when you think you have got over the worst of it bang...another incline hits you. This goes on and on for the whole twenty..so much for taking it easy over the winter.
Tonight, I got half way through the session, which fortunately took place at the back of my garage and not on the real course. Suddenly I just ran out of energy. I was drinking water not an energy drink, not a good decision, I was on my carbon bike for minimum weight up the hill, didn't help!!! Suddenly -nothing, not exhausted, not a heart rate over 220, not even bored I was loving it. Just nothing. The good thing about a turbo trainer though was I could step off half way up the hill, step through two doors into the kitchen, then gorge myself like Belushi in animal house stuffing four Cinnamon cakes, a yogurt and an oatmeal bar into me as I climbed back onto the bike and about five inches of a bottle of coke went down my throat as I climbed the next monster rise on the trip. Energy restored I completed a fantastic session on my machine. Now...this was hardly an athletes diet but it put the carbs I needed back into me in seconds and let me finish my planned session. It just shows the importance of diet and stuffing the back pockets with all the food you need.... a good tip when you can't take the mountain to the kitchen. So to answer my question- you can bonk on a turbo trainer, and its safe bonking if your kitchen is stocked up....

Never trust a doctor

My friends sent this story from the BBC to me about a doctor testing his new carbon bike costing £1000 against his £50 bike and finding the £50 bike was quicker. Well research can be easily distorted. First of all what kind of a carbon bike do you get for £1000? Secondly if you have a nice bike you tend to be a bit more careful with it. That slows you down. Third, and most important, I have timed my carbon compared to my steel and it is faster!!! Those of you that have read my other blogs will be aware that a couple of us are planning to test our time trial bikes against the normal bike and if we need to test carbon v steel more formally we will. Ultimately though you don't buy a Ferrari to do 180mph on the motorway - you will soon get caught- you buy it because it looks good and makes you feel good. A carbon bike is the same just costs a lot less, so the Doctor is wrong and if you want carbon get carbon

 

It's not about the bike

By Philippa Roxby Health reporter, BBC News

More people than ever are cycling to work

It's a no-brainer. Cycling is good for you. It keeps you fit, gets you out in the fresh air and is kind to the environment.

Cycling to work is more popular than ever, because it's an easy way of fitting exercise into the daily routine and it doubles as transport.
According to the government, "regular exercise like cycling halves your chances of suffering from heart disease, and helps to prevent strokes, diabetes, and some kinds of cancer.
"Your blood pressure and resting heart rate will be lower, and you'll feel more awake and less stressed."It's not always about getting there first.”And it can save a fortune. Or can it?
Dr Jeremy Groves, a consultant anaesthetist at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and self-confessed cycling fan, discovered that, "spending a lot of money on a bicycle for commuting is not necessarily going to get you to work more quickly".Dr Groves' set up a trial to test whether his new, lightweight carbon-framed bicycle (which cost £1000) was any faster than his second-hand steel-framed bike bought for £50.
Heavy or light? For six months he tossed a coin each morning to decide which bike to use - and then timed the journey.

Dr Groves compared his commuting times on a heavy and a light bicycle

His study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that there was no measurable difference in commuting time over the 27 miles from Sheffield to his place of work and back.
The average journey time using his heavy, old bike was 1 hour 47 minutes and the average journey for the new, lighter new bike was 1 hour 48 minutes.
"A reduction in the weight of the cyclist rather than that of the bicycle may deliver great benefit at reduced cost," the study says.
Dr Groves declares himself "disappointed" to find out that his financial investment was giving him no extra time in bed and no less time on the road.We are tempted by the fact it's new, so it must be better...”

End Quote Dr Jeremy Groves

"I could have invested that money in better cycle clothing and in tarting up the lights on my bike instead," he said.

Tax break
His findings are also disappointing for those who have used the government's Cycle to Work scheme to buy the bike of their dreams at a discounted price, thanks to tax exemption.
Why invest in a Chris Boardman streamlined two-wheeler and turn into a MAMIL (middle aged man in lycra) - we all know one - if it's not going to save a bit of time and energy?
"It's not always about getting there first," says Philip Ingham from British Cycling.
"Although lighter bikes can go more quickly, their thinner tyres make them more fragile and more vulnerable to punctures. Mountain bikes, in contrast, have big tyres, strong brakes and often feel safer to ride."
If given the choice between riding the heavy or light bike, Dr Groves says he would choose the former.
"I get there just as quickly, and it is more comfortable, better value, and has more character," he confesses.
Sir Chris Hoy would undoubtedly take issue with his choice, but Dr Groves has a theory.
"Evidence-based medicine shows us that brand new medication is often not much different from generic medicine - but we are tempted by the fact it's new, so it must be better.
"The same is true of bicycles," he says.
Dr Groves isn't entirely downcast though.
"Cycling for me is a great hobby. It gets me out in the fresh air, keeps me healthy, is carbon neutral and, provided I don't buy any more bikes, is a cost effective way to travel."