Indholdsfortegnelse for November 11, 2021 i Cycling Weekly

when gravel bikes first arrived on the scene I admit I was sceptical. An American invention that wasn’t needed in the UK, I thought. We don’t have the terrain and cross and mtbs are all you need to go and play off-road. How wrong I was. I’ve written many times about the joy of discovering my local bridleways and paths during 2021’s periods of lockdown, and in this week’s gravel-focused issue you can read about my two days riding the North Downs Way. The second part of which went straight into my top 10 days on a bike. A gravel bike can be a great do-it-all machine, and if I had to live with just one bike, that’s what I’d go for. The growing gravel scene is also helping Cycling…

Elite women: Lucinda Brand (Ned); 2, K.V. Blanka (Hun); 3, Y. Kastelijn (Ned). Elite men: Lars van der Haar (Ned); 2, Q. Hermans (Bel); M. Vanthourenhout (Bel). U23 women: Shirin Van Anrooij (Ned); 2, P. Pieterse (Ned); 3, F. Van Empel (Ned); 9, Millie Couzens (GBr); 10, Josie Nelson (GBr). U23 men: Ryan Kamp (Ned); 2, N. Vandeputte (Bel); 3, T. Nys (Bel); 6. Cameron Mason (GBr); 12, Joseph Blackmore (GBr); 17, Toby Barnes (GBr); 26, Corran Carrick-Anderson (GBr). Junior women: Zoe Bäckstedt (GBr); 2, L. Bentveld (Ned); 3, N. Vinke (Ned); 9, Ella Maclean-Howell (GBr); 10, Libby Bell (GBr); 23, Elizabeth McKinnon (GBr); 31, Niamh Murphy (GBr). Junior men: Aaron Dockx (Bel); 2, D. Haverdings (Ned); 3, L. Paletti (Ita); 6, Oliver Akers (GBr); 11, Max Greensill (GBr); 12,…

I recently completed the CW5000 challenge and am so pleased that I took it on. I am 68 years old, had two heart attacks 18 months ago and have type two diabetes. I have ridden my bike for the last 40 years and kept records of every ride. My previous best annual mileage, last year, was 4,275. I did not believe that I could complete 5,000 by early October but I did it. I have had just four days this year without riding. I have recorded my highest annual training stress score and time on the bike, and will record my highest climbing, calories burned and number of rides. I have not lost weight but I have avoided extra diabetes medication. Every one of the 5,000 miles has been ridden…

Where to stay Galloway Cycling Holidays (www.gallowaycycling.com) arranged our stay at Bay Tree House, a comfortable B&B in the centre of Kirkcudbright, half an hour’s drive from the start of the ride. (www.baytreekirkcudbright.co.uk). Where to eat Mid-ride coffee and cake at the Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre; evening meals at the Selkirk Arms Hotel in Kirkcudbright (selkirkarmshotel.co.uk). Bike shops Kirkcudbright has both Castle Douglas Cycles and Studio Velo where you can stock up on any last-minute supplies. How to get there The nearest railway station is Dumfries, 45 kilometres from Kirkcudbright.…

If you’ve ever seen the Peter Kay sketch about the man shaped like a capital D, well, that was me at the start of this Fitness Project. Not anymore! As the Project draws to an end, I’m 5kg lighter and my body shape has noticeably changed. OK, I’d hoped to lose more, but I’m now able to fit into clothes that I hadn’t worn since getting married back in 2012. I’m feeling much healthier too, and my asthma isn’t bothering me anywhere near as much as it was a year ago. Frustratingly, my weight has plateaued at around 90kg. In hindsight, a mix of factors have limited progress. My initial training and diet discipline were interrupted when I got busier at work, and at other times I was so fixated…

I was out for a ride last week with my good friend Alex Dowsett. Clearly Alex is a second choice behind my other friend Bernard, but we were in Mexico and, well, Bernard wasn’t available. I think he’s still not allowed to travel internationally. This particular ride was in Aguascalientes, which is slap in the middle of Mexico. It’s a nice town, the people are very friendly, the tacos are amazing, but stupidly it all happens at 1,900m altitude. I’m going to get to the point. This sort of altitude is like a crapness simulator. If you want to know what it’s like to be a whole lot worse a bike rider than you actually are, get to Aguascalientes. It also functions as an age simulator. If you want to…

A group of boys line up to take their cycling proficiency test in London, seen off by a rather commanding looking policeman. To this day riding a bike as a youngster is a passport to freedom – as attested by the look of envy on the face of the boy in the shorts in the background of this picture. But as car use grew in the early 20th century, there was concern for people’s safety. The cycling proficiency test was introduced in 1936 but it really took off in the post-war period and there were around 10,000 passes being issued a year by the time this picture was taken. At that time the badge, usually an enamel triangle shape, had some substantial kudos to it in the school playground. Mostly…

Lynne Biddulph (née Taylor), who held the women’s Land’s End to John o’ Groats record for 19 years and is still the fastest woman to ride 1,000 miles, has become the first person to be given a special award by the FT Bidlake Memorial Prize in honour of past achievements. Since 1933 the annual award Trust in charge of the prize has recognised outstanding cyclists and volunteers. Previous winners of the award have included Tom Simpson, Beryl Burton, Mandy Jones and Bradley Wiggins. Jonathan Shubert, who last November became the first person to ride 100 miles in sub-three hours, completing the century in 2-57.58, was given the Bidlake Award for 2020 – awarded last month. Speaking of Biddulph’s special award the committee said: “This is the first time the Trust…

Archibald kicks Champs League off in style The new UCI Track Champions League kicked off in Majorca at the weekend, with Katie Archibald emerging leader of the women’s endurance standings after winning the elimination race. A total of 72 riders split across endurance and sprint leagues will race six rounds in a variety of locations. Corbin Strong (NZl) was best of the endurance men, with Harrie Lavreysen (Ned) and Emma Hinze (Ger) leading the sprint league. Kennaugh comeback? Peter Kennaugh says he is considering a return to cycling, having left the sport to take an indefinite mental health break in 2019. In a new film by Wahoo called Pete Kennaugh – The Book That Was Never Finished, the 32-year-old talks of how he feels about the sport now. “Without asking…

JACK THURSTON Jack Thurston has plotted more than 150 routes for his Lost Lanes series of books and starts his research by unfolding an Ordnance Survey Landranger map. “A good route will have a sense of flow in the landscape, both in terms of where you put the hills and descents, the cafe and pub stops,” he says. As well as the OS map, Thurston uses online research tools. “Google Streetview has almost full coverage of the road network but not so for off-road sections, so here the real detective work begins,” he says. He uses the National Library of Scotland’s database of old maps; Geograph.org.uk; Strava’s heat maps to see if cyclists have been using a particular track or not; and the routing algorithm, cycle.travel. Once he has plotted…

Do your research There are countless routes on both the Cycling UK site and Komoot. But don’t just download the GPX and ride, there are lots of little ways to save time if you zoom in and scroll through. Having a clearer idea of the route will also help as you ride as place names will be familiar and give you a sense of how well you’re proceeding. Double backs Look for any sections where the route you’re using doubles back on itself, as if the rider has ridden a tight hairpin. The chances are there is a cut through that’ll save you a minute or two. Route splits If a route you find is split to make it a multi-day tour check where each one ends and the next…

Give yourself an appropriate amount of time My expectations were perhaps a little too ambitious for six months. Don’t get obsessive Focusing purely on one aspect, e.g. calorie counting, is prone to complicate rather than fix unhealthy habits. Choose your moments to go all-out Riding hard all the time doesn’t give your body time to absorb the training and adapt. Consistency plus progressive overload is the key Two to three weeks building up the stress, then an easy week. Train to enjoy A big FTP is a great brag, but it’s vital to enjoy the rides, rather than riding solely to hit impressive numbers.…

Next year’s Tour route had just been announced by 70-year-old race director Felix Levitan, who used the presentation to attack his critics. In weeks previous the race had come in for criticism about being “an overtly commercial circus”. The criticism stemmed from France’s new minister of sport, who said the race had become too much of “an advertising junket” and suggested it should instead be run by the state. At the route presentation Levitan came out all guns blazing, defending sponsorship and money from the host towns (totalling just £2 million) and pointing out the race didn’t cost the French taxpayer one centime. Extraordinarily, he listed each of the race’s many costs, from policing, to petrol, salaries and race transfers. There was some merit in the criticism, however. Levitan was…

The route of the Giro d’Italia will see competitors tackle five uphill finishes, just 26km of time trialling and a double ascent of the famous Blockhaus climb in a bid to wear the pink jersey at the race’s end in Verona. The route, which looks designed to build to a crescendo, visits both new and old ascents, with stretches of doubledigit gradients. After three days in and around Budapest, Hungary, the race transfers to Sicily where it will do a new version of the ascent of the Etna volcano that stitches together the bottom and top of two different ascents it has used previously. The rest of the first week offers chances for both sprinters and breakaway artists, with hilly and flat stages before Sunday’s brutal mountain stage with 4,990m…

Cyclo-cross is one of the best forms of training for gravel riding, and Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Zdenêk Štybar was a three-time CX world champion (2010-2014). He shares some of his insight into winter cross riding “Cyclo-cross in the winter is such a great training tool for so many reasons. The days are shorter, you’re limited on time, but you can do a very good, quick workout. You can even ride around the forest at night with a good light – how fun is that!? On the road, you just pedal and don’t have to think much; riding cross you have to pedal hard, handle the bike, concentrate, move around objects. Above all, cross training is loads of fun. “We always try to improve our best time up a climb because it’s…

HILL-CLIMBS SUNDAY, 7 NOVEMBER Sussex Nomads CC (Ditchling Beacon, Brighton, East Sussex, 1,576 yards): Men: 1. Ashley Dennis (Things That) 4.07.8 2. C. Cheung (Hub Velo) 4.32.9 3. L. Burgess (Horsham Cycling) 4.33.6 4. A. Nunn (Addiscombe CC) 4.39.2 5. C. Williams (VC Londres) 4.41.1 6. D. Pink (GS Avanti) 4.41.2 7. A. Cornwell (Parlay CC) 4.43.5 8. F. Schofield (Brighton Mitre CC) 4.45.2 9. M. Sleeman (Horsham Cycling) 4.45.8 10. R. Cartland (HuntBikeWheels.com) 4.46.6 Women: 1. Kate Mactear (Bristol South CC) 5.02.9 2. M. Jessett (Stolen Goat Race Team) 5.45.1 3. K. Palmer (1904 RT) 5.46.8 4. O. Webb (Eastbourne Rovers CC) 5:00.2 5. B. Male (Neighbourhood Brighton CC) 6.02.2 6. N. Ray (Brixton CC) 6.14.2 7. R. Carless (Brighton Mitre CC) 6.27.9 8. E. D’Arcy (Woking CC) 6.29.7…

Michael Broadwith broke the Edinburgh to London record last month. Hundreds of cyclists went to the route to encourage him, in a show of support that Broadwith credited with helping him raise his pace from 32 to 38kph. A friend of mine drove over an hour from Bury St. Edmunds to the A1198 near Royston to see him. He arrived, waited in the dark on his own in a lay-by with a cow bell, ready to offer encouragement, waited some more. He paid little to no attention when a solitary rider with a very bright front light went quietly if-a-little-swiftly past, and waited some more. Broadwith never turned up.…