Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2015 i Cycling Plus

Getting feedback is hugely important no matter who you are, or what you do. It’d be easy for us here on Cycling Plus to believe we’re doing just great, thank you very much – we are, after all, Britain’s best-selling cycling magazine so we must be doing something right! However, we’d love to hear from you. We want to know what you think, because the more we know about you the better placed we are to bring you the best magazine we can. So, to help us out we would like to invite you to join our online reader panel ‘Insiders’. Sign up – it’s free, no strings! – and we’ll be in touch from time to time to ask for your opinions on Cycling Plus and other issues relevant…

Have breakfast here... Carluccio’s Treat yourself to an Italian take on the full English or plump for porridge. Excellent coffee too, as you’d expect. Where 20 Central Avenue, West Bridgford, Nottingham www.carluccios.com Stop for cakes here… The Limehaus This small yet perfectly formed cafe has a great selection of cakes, and serves tea in traditional china cups. Where The Old Post Office, Loughbon, Orston Tel: 01949 851472 Get spare tubes here… Cycle Garage The ‘busiest workshop in Nottingham’, run by a former cyclo-cross champion, stocks parts for all cycling disciplines. Where 2b Exchange Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham www.cyclegarage.co.uk Fancy a pint? The Chequers Inn Real ales, lovely food and a great garden just off NCN route 64 and in the shadow of Belvoir Castle. Where Main Street, Woolsthorpe By Belvoir…

CYCLE OF LIFE A lack of exercise could be killing twice as many people as obesity, according to a 12-year study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers followed 334,161 Europeans, assessing activity and waistlines. While the two can go hand-in-hand, the greatest risk of early death was found to be in the inactive, no matter what their weight. BIKE SENSE Car maker Jaguar Land Rover is developing concept technology that uses colours, sounds and touch to alert drivers to the presence of cyclists, rather than a generic warning. Examples include the buzzing of the door handle if a cyclist is riding by and the vibration of the accelerator pedal if moving the car would cause an accident. BAND AID Start-up firm Acticheck is seeking Kickstarter crowd-funding investment…

EMAIL cyclingplus@immediate.co.uk WEB www.bikeradar.com/cyclingplus twitter.com/Cyclingplus facebook.com/CyclingPlusMagazine CYCLING PLUS Immediate Media, Tower House, Fairfax St, Bristol BS1 3BN NO SKIMPING Last spring I was talked into doing my first marathon. I also agreed to do the Evans Rideit Wiltshire sportive, not noticing they were only a week apart. I followed a training plan for the marathon religiously, but this left little time for cycling. It will be all right, I thought. It’s only 80 miles. With lots of running miles in my legs, I finished the marathon in 3 hours 46 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed it. The sportive was very different. Yes, I got round to tell the tale, but it was a very long, hard day in the saddle and I won’t be making the same mistake again. This is my year…

CONSTRUCTION The OakRak consists of a series of vertical wooden members, held together by threaded rods, with end caps acting as nuts. A decentsized padded top plate pushes against the ceiling while another rectangle of timber acts as a base. Vinyl-coated metal arms hold two bikes at heights of your choosing (extra arms are available for four-bike middle-of-the-room setups), and can be positioned independently of one another. The stand has a pleasant, understated look to it, and it’s available in two colours, of which this is the darker. SETTING UP Swedish flat-pack aficionados will have no difficulty assembling the OakRak, a process which involves small Allen keys and a bit of patience. The two halves of the stand need to be arranged so the total height is slightly less than…

ASS SAVER EXTENDED £6.50 This pro-approved guard stops the worst of the spray from your rear wheel. It fits most saddles and the latest version better withstands removal and refitting too. It’s no substitute for full mudguards, but it’s one of the best value ways to make riding your racer tolerable on damp days. www.ass-savers.com SKS RACE BLADE XL £37.99 The big brother of SKS’s familiar guard will accommodate tyres up to 32mm wide. They don’t go under the brakes so the bike still gets mucky, but they do a very good job of keeping spray off the rider and are quick and easy to fit, with easy adjustment. Somewhat expensive, mind. www.zyro.co.uk PDW FULL METAL FENDERS £75 These offer excellent coverage, and clear instructions make installation straightforward, although we…

WE SAY... Stiff-soled, highly adjustable race shoes with loads of comfort Race shoes need to be light, stiff and comfortable. Gaerne’s new G-Stilo shoes certainly start off well, thanks to the Italian company’s latest carbon sole, the not-so-snappily named ‘EPS Light Weight’. This is both very thin – less than 3mm at the footplate – yet completely rigid. Dual reinforcing ridges in the sole, which stretch from toe to heel, are instrumental in keeping the bulk down and the stiffness up. Meanwhile, the injection-moulded carbon heelcups, with their shaped backs, eliminate any roll and prevent your heels from popping out when you’re lifting through the pedal stroke. But it’s not all about efficiency. The G-Stilos are also extremely comfortable. The all-new, highly shaped non-slip insole and padded tongue make slipping…

STEADY EDDIE 1 The lower gears on a mountain bike will naturally cause you to ride a bit slower, but in the early stages of the season that can be a good thing. Training at low intensity, especially fasted, will teach your body to fuel itself more efficiently. Of course, if you sprint like a bat out of hell then it won’t matter what gears you have, so back off. ALL WEATHER 2 Some of the conditions that make riding on the road a chore, such as rain and snow, can make mountain biking more fun! Hitting the mud is the perfect way to keep riding when you would otherwise hole up indoors. GET TECHNICAL 3 There’s no need to hit a red run at your local trail centre straight…

When we enter Simon Richardson’s Porthcawl house, we spot the telltale signs of a racing cyclist immediately: pictures on the walls, a corner of the front room dedicated to bikes, and a pile of wheel bags. But the man who greets us is in a wheelchair, his house adapted to his needs following injuries sustained after being hit by a car while training in 2011. Speaking with a gentle, lilting Welsh accent, Simon begins to tell us his tale. In 2001 he bought a mountain bike to get fit after a motorbike accident. Soon enough, that was upgraded to a Cannondale CAAD2, and before long Simon was riding for the Port Talbot Wheelers and competing in time trials, achieving a 23-minute 10. But on his way to a club run…

TRAINING ZONES TO MINIMISE TIME training and keep it as effective as possible, the programme uses training zones –based on your maximum heart rate (MHR) and maximum minute power (MMP). A full explanation of these can be found on Wattbike.com and there’s a quick summary below. Please note the 220-minus-your-age estimate for HR is not accurate; if possible, we highly recommend you take a ramp test. RECOVERY ZONE (< 60% mhr/< 35% mmp) RPE (rate of perceived exertion) 1 Very relaxed ZONE 1 (60-65%/35-45%) Establishes base endurance RPE 2 Relaxed. Able to carry on a conversation ZONE 2 (65-75%/45-55%) Improves efficiency RPE 3/4 Working. Heart rate and respiration up. Might sweat ZONE 3 (75-82%/55-65%) Improves sustainable power RPE 5 Hard work. CO2 building up. Sweating. Breathing hard ZONE 4 (82-89%/65-75%)…

“IT’S THE MOST FANTASTIC COURSE YOU COULD THINK OF IN THIS COUNTRY” 1 MAKE IT ICONIC Attaching your sportive to the route of a pro race is a surefire way of making it a success. Having it pass through Paris-Roubaix’s Forest of Arenberg or over the Tour of Flanders’ Koppenberg is akin to holding your Sunday league football match at Turf Moor. Okay, Old Trafford. For those who don’t have that luxury, creativity is required. What are the iconic climbs in your area? Where can you find the best scenery and the most friendly cycling terrain? How can it all be connected in a way that works? For Paul Loftus, the route is the most vital thing to get right. He’d know, too, as organiser of one of Britain’s most…

INSPIRATION ‘Inspiration’ is a massively overused word. But if ever the word is apt, it’s in describing the Welsh paralympic cyclist Simon Richardson. He has come back from two life-changing bike accidents without a hint of bitterness or rancour. His story is on p170 NORTHERN SOUL After Yorkshire’s success at hosting a reet Grand Départ at last year’s Tour de France, the county is set to host the three-day Tour de Yorkshire this year. So, on a cold winter’s day we sent our hard northerners to check out Stage 2. Our frostbitten hack’s report is on p124 DON’T VEG OUT The days when cyclists beefed up on a pre-race prime steak are long gone, but some people still believe that you can’t combine serious cycling with a vegetarian diet. If…

Although the alloy Synapse frame perfectly mirrors the geometry and shape of our carbon-framed 2014 bike of the year, this one is a little different to the standard alloy model: it’s a limited edition and exclusive to Evans Cycles. It might be called the Adventure, but we can’t help thinking that it’s been designed with the British rider in mind – not just because of the British racing green livery, but because of the all-weather component choices. With retro flavoured skinwall Schwalbe tyres complemented by full colour-matched mudguards, and hydraulic disc brakes courtesy of SRAM’s latest Rival units, we reckon this could be the ideal bike for British conditions. Now mudguards (1), rack mounts and disc brakes (2) might make you think of the Adventure as just a…

GOOD TICKET TO RIDE A huge 86,001 riders entered the Ride-London 100 ballot for its third edition in August. The lucky 25,000 drawn out of the hat will add to the £17m that the event has raised over the past two years MARKING TERRITORY Mark Cavendish will make his debut at the Cape Argus on 8 March. He’ll be part of the pro race that starts just ahead of the 35,000-rider sportive, and will have a great shot at victory on the sprinter-friendly course. ON YER BIKES Over 66,000 more people aged 16 or over in England rode at least once a week in 2014 compared with a year earlier, according to Sport England’s Active People Survey. The rise takes the numbers cycling to 2.069m, making it the third most…

@albertocontador I think I’m a freak...as more dead I finish my training, the happier I feel! #cycling @steve_abraham74 Just finished the “unfinishable” breakfast @sizzlers should set me up for another 3 hrs headwind @nedboulting Have ISIS revealed any detailed plans for cycling infrastructure in the Caliphate? @GeraintThomas86 Thought it was raining at times today, turns out it was just @IStannard sweating in front of me... #hot @MarkCavendish Nobody could ever accuse @michalkwiatek of being lucky in bike races. Only because he saves it all & uses it at Monopoly. #spatmydummy @charltonbrooker Lance Armstrong = Tony Blair @tomboonen1 Yesterday evening our family expanded with two little princesses . Valentine and Jacqueline. Babies and mum are doing fine @mickrogers What’s the theoretical max heart rate of a human? 220 bpm minus your…

CONSTRUCTION Available in silver or black, Feedback Sports’ Velo Column has a substantial single alloy upright, with a telescoping upper that allows for height adjustment. Its arms have rubber-covered ends to hold your bike’s top-tube. These arms adjust independently, so sloping bike frames can be levelled precisely. The stand can also be set up in the middle of a room, and extra arms can be added to turn it into a four-bike stand. SETTING UP The two halves of the stand need to be joined, and then the arms are locked into their channels on either side of the column – the work of a few minutes. Setting it up is very simple: measure the height of the ceiling, add 15mm to account for compression of the spring at the…

PUSH AND PULL Ideally, use a turbo so you can focus on your cadence and smooth pedalling. Concentrate on using your left and right pedals equally, both pushing down and pulling up. Warm up: 5mins Z1, 5mins Z2, 3mins Z3 Workout: 5mins at 70rpm in Z3-Z4, 5mins at 95rpm in Z1. Repeat four times. Keep on the drops in a race position in Z3 efforts Cool down: 5mins Z2, 5mins Z1 SHORT-TERM ENDURANCE 1 This session reintroduces speed endurance into your training and works equally well on the road or turbo. The Z5 intervals appear short and sweet, but the lactic build-up in your quads tells another story. Warm up: 5mins Z1, 5mins Z2, 3mins Z3 Workout: 4 x 4mins Z5 intervals, with 5mins of recovery Z1 in between Cool…

Power meters have largely rewritten the rulebook on structured training, especially in the upper echelons of competition, offering performance data of unparalleled quality. Unlike heart rate, which lags behind effort and is subject to a huge range of variables, power gives a definitive, repeatable measure of a cyclist’s output. It means that with a thorough understanding of your own abilities gained during training, you can measure out your efforts effectively when it comes to event day. We asked SRAM’s engineers to give us a rundown of how one of its crank-based Quarq power meters works. Although this description is based on a SRAM unit, many competitors’ devices work on similar principles. MEASUREMENT When you pedal, your bike’s drivetrain parts displace, undergoing microscopic amounts of flex. The power meter’s spider 1…

With a programme more packed than ever it is certain that the UK’s sportive boom is continuing apace. Following last year’s Yorkshire Grand Départ, the roads of the county look set to be awash with riders throughout 2015. ASO’s Tour de Yorkshire pro race has its own sportive, but if you want to ride the roads the pros covered last summer there are a wealth of options. And if you’re looking for something even more exotic, check out our reports from two American gran fondos on page 12 – they’re worth the airfare.…

Seven years ago there was not a single gran fondo in the United States; last year there were more than 80, with the largest drawing more than 5000 riders. While traditional racing has USA Cycling to dictate rules, gran fondos are a wild frontier, with organisers shaping and reshaping the format as they go. Some organisers, smelling the money, have simply rebranded existing centuries – 100-mile, nontimed, non-competitive rides that include feed-stops, basic course marking and often little in the way of traffic control. But some are new and professionally orchestrated events, such as Levi’s Gran Fondo in Santa Rosa, California, which has regularly drawn thousands of participants since its inception in 2009. This event fits the ‘marathon on a bike’ profile – or ‘mullet racing’ – with a race-like…

As far as we know, this is the first brand we’ve tested that takes its name from a Rage Against The Machine song (‘Bomb’ here being hip-hop slang for ‘great’. Thank you, Wikipedia). The Hook is flagged up by Bombtrack’s UK distributor as a road bike, but it clearly has a hefty dose of cyclo-cross DNA. This does make it tough enough for tackling kerbs and even steps, but limits its speed and acceleration. The ’cross gearing, with its 46/36 chainset, also means you lack a big top gear on the flat and descents. But it bombs along nicely enough over poor surfaces, the steel frame, 27.2mm seatpost and 35mm rubber keeping the comfort high. The BB30 bottom bracket, tapered steerer and lovely flared handlebar ensure the handling is reassuring…

CITY SLICKER 1 What’s faster around Chicago, a taxi driver or a bike messenger? This video from Red Bull answers the question. tinyurl.com/cp-chicago HIGH FIVE 2 Has it really been five years? This video from Team Sky celebrates half a decade at the top of the sport. tinyurl.com/cp-skyfive ROCKIN’ ROLLER 3 The knee injury feature on p162 takes a look at the ITB band and here’s how a foam roller can massage it. tinyurl.com/cp-njditb ACTING UP 4 For Armstrong, clearly enough time has passed to play up his notoriety in music video cameos. tinyurl.com/cp-voicemail…

“BY 2020 WE’D LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED AS INDISPUTABLY THE BEST AND MOST CONSISTENT CYCLING TEAM IN THE WORLD” Team Sky head honcho Sir Dave Brailsford isn’t in the business of setting lowly goals for his squad. “IF YOU TAKE ME BACK TO 1995, WHEN DOPING WAS COMPLETELY PERVASIVE, I WOULD PROBABLY DO IT AGAIN” Asked by the BBC’s Dan Roan whether he’d rewrite his own history given the chance, Lance Armstrong is as bullish as ever. “THEY’LL BE HANGING OFF THE RAFTERS IF HE DECIDES TO DO IT HERE. IT WOULD BE LIKE BRADMAN’S LAST INNINGS” Manchester is where Shane Sutton wants Bradley Wiggins to take on the Hour record this summer.…

HOT CROSS BUN GOOD BOY Traditionally a Good Friday treat, this fruit bun hits shelves nowadays before the Christmas lights have been turned off. It’s the dried fruit that gives it a modicum of nutritional value and the high carb count means it’ll replace post-ride glycogen stores. BAD BOY They’re often low in fat (until you spread on the butter) but the high sugar content makes them closer to being a cake than anything else. They’re also incredibly moreish and, given how quickly they go out of date, it’s all too easy to rifle through a six pack. VERDICT The degree to which they’re flavoured with the natural sugar of dried fruit determines how nutritious they are, as does how liberal you are topping them with butter. WORK IT OFF…

WE SAY... An expensive but classy upgrade to your cockpit, with comfort built in You need chutzpah to explain to your loved ones why you need to spend the cost of an entry-level city bike on… the steery bit. Assuming you can swing it, this gorgeous bar from Bontrager oozes quiet luxury, with a subtly alluring carbon finish and neatly moulded cable grooves. Its lack of mass is impressive: our 42cm bar weighed in at 233g including the red ‘IsoZone’ pads, about 100g lighter than the aluminium version. It’s also getting on for four times the price… The adhesive-backed IsoZone foam pads that cover the bar’s contact points are designed to reduce the amount of vibration transmitted to your hands. They’re made from a material with perceptible ‘squish’ which, as…

After putting in many miles on the Revelation, the taut, somewhat racy handling and more aggressive riding position has really won me over from the more relaxed sportive bikes that I’m accustomed to riding. The same goes for the bike’s 11-speed SRAM Force groupset (1), which I now definitely favour after spending years on Shimano-appointed machines. The stopping power of the Force 22 brakes is very impressive and I’ve become a fan of the precise nature of the DoubleTap gear shifts. While the Fulcrum Racing 7 wheelset has served me well since I’ve had the bike, the time has come to upgrade them to something lighter and more in keeping with the rest of the Revelation. As such I’ve added a pair of Shimano Dura-Ace C24s, which I know from…

AIR ESCAPE When you feel your tyre pressure going down, pull over, unscrew the valve core and press it in to let all the air escape. You need to ensure your inner tube is completely flat before using an emergency sealant such as Vittoria’s Pit Stop. CORE VALUE Where emergency sealants win out over their ‘long-term’ compatriots is that you don’t need to remove the valve core to use them. Where traditional liquid latex-based sealants contain fibres intended to clog holes, emergency sealants are thinner (Pit Stop is a foam latex) and can be injected through the valve core. Simply push the sealant bottle over the open valve and press up from the bottom to release the propellant and the sealant. Ensure a tight seal at all times. SPIN THE…

IN 2013, granfondoguide.com popped up as a one-stop-shop resource for information on gran fondos in North America. Founder Mark Harding created the UK site Cyclosport.org in 2003, and figured there was an opportunity in the United States, too. “There is so much demand in the States,” said Harding. “Over 65 per cent of US cyclists want to do a gran fondo this year. It’s the same model as in the UK, it’s just lagging behind a few years. The UK is absolutely saturated. There were five events in 2003, and there are now about 300. It’s nuts.” Having ridden hundreds of gran fondos, Harding pegs a few as the world’s best, including the Nove Colli, the Maratona dles Dolomites, the Stelvio, the Paris-Roubaix Challenge, the Tour of Flanders Sportive and…