Innehållsförteckning för October 17, 2024 från Cycling Weekly

In our third week of Travel Month, we’re heading off-road. While bikepacking is really just touring rebranded and resold to a modern audience, there is no doubt that gravel bikes do offer something different. They have opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Those 38mm+ knobbly tyres and relaxed geometry mean there are now more adventurous routes to be ridden and more places to be discovered. So this week we’re embracing the explorer within and heading off the beaten track. From lessons learned covering all corners of the globe with just the bare necessities, to a former wannabe pro now living life to the max as a gravel racer, we’re taking you to places we’d previously never heard of, let alone places we thought of taking our bikes to.…

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) took her first ever professional victory at the Simac Ladies Tour last week, as she won stage one’s individual time trial. The 20-year-old, a former junior world champion, finished third overall at the Women’s WorldTour stage race, despite being without any team-mates from the end of stage two onwards. She was also best young rider. The race was won overall by Lotte Kopecky of SD Worx-Protime, who took the GC victory on the line of the final stage due to bonus seconds. SD Worx-Protime won all the other stages, with Lorena Wiebes taking three, and Barbara Guarischi winning one. World and Olympic champ Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) ended her career with victory at the Chrono des Nations. In the men’s event, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), completed a hat-trick, beating…

As with many dreams and ambitions, it’s often the fear that prevents us from setting out. Fear is not necessarily misplaced, of course, because bad things do happen. But I can offer this reassurance: no bad thing has ever happened to me in hundreds of thousands of kilometres of touring. Sometimes we find it hard to keep our fears in proportion with the risks. Everyone fears different things. In my experience, men are more likely to fear violent crime or theft, while women understandably fear unwanted attention and sexual assault. Thankfully, I have never been the victim of a crime while travelling by bicycle, and nor have the many women I know who have cycled long-distance across China, Korea and Latin America. French farmers who found me and friends sleeping…

The first time I ever took a bike on holiday anywhere, I took it to Australia. I’d won the trip at a bike race, so I felt I had to. It was a long time ago. The internet was young. Plane tickets were made of paper. And British Airways insisted you couldn’t pack a bike in a bag. You just brought it to the airport and handed it over, and a man in some overalls came and took it away. If you think that was strange, here’s the punchline. I got it back totally unharmed. In some ways that was the most benign thing that happened all trip. On my first morning in Sydney, I snuck out of my B&B early, and headed out to explore. I quickly discovered that…

Don’t be surprised to see Joss Lowden take a tilt at the 100-mile time trial record next season, as she plots out her life beyond road racing. The 37-year-old, a former Hour record holder and British time trial champion, announced her retirement from the professional peloton last week, calling time on a seven-year career. Her plan now is to enjoy a less structured life, she told Cycling Weekly, but she’s “not necessarily” done with racing. “I don’t want to stop riding, and I don’t want to stop racing,” said Lowden, who has spent the last three seasons with Norwegian WorldTour team Uno-X. “I’m not 100% sure I am completely ready to stop, which is why I leave it open and say it’s the end of my professional road racing career…

As ever, I get a real buzz when I see my magazine has arrived. And a cover line of Summit Bagging is always going to grab my attention, despite the fact I don’t have the fitness or the weight I had in my twenties. My brother has lived in Tasmania since the early ’90s and regularly rides Mount Wellington. It rises out of Hobart, and the panoramic views of Hobart and the sea are stunning. The climb is very alpine in character, with eucalyptus trees lining the route offering a wonderful aroma along with the vistas. I am sure you will recall it was a favourite of Richie Porte. Looking forward to the next issue. Ed - Mount Wellington does sound good, but sadly our expense budget might not cover…

There is a surprising connection between fear and gear. The world of consumer shopping offers no end of products promising to ease our every anxiety. Devices emitting a high pitch to deter pursuing dogs, pepper spray and many other items exist to apparently resolve touring situations that – in my experience – don’t arise. In difficult situations, keeping calm and having faith is usually your best defence against escalation. In the US, I’ve met homeless people cycling south for the winter on decrepit bikes with heavy chains for locks draped over the frame. It underscored to me that you don’t need an expensive bike to travel a long way. Bicycles are inherently resilient machines almost always easy to fix – and a mechanic is rarely far away. This is even…

Soon after landing in Gothenburg, I began to realise how little I knew about Sweden. I knew it was a place I’d always wanted to visit – when do you ever hear anything bad about Sweden? – but it would turn out knowing the lyrics of half a dozen ABBA songs, occasionally shopping in Ikea, and being able to name a few of Sweden’s major cities and sports-people meant I didn’t know much at all. Why had I always wanted to visit? I didn’t even know that. Even if the country was as good as I’d imagined, I was about to explore it on two wheels, and let’s be honest, when was the last time you met someone who’d gone to Sweden with their bike? Let alone their gravel bike.…

When Garmin announced the Edge 1050 as its new flagship bike computer back in June, I felt underwhelmed. It didn’t appear to offer much over the existing Edge 1040 and, if anything, it seemed less capable than the groundbreaking Edge 1040 Solar. Garmin’s decision to keep the older model alongside its new stablemate left me feeling even more indifferent. Why should I bother upgrading? Edging forward Having spent the last few months with a 1050 loaner, I’ve now changed my mind. When the 1040 series was launched, Garmin’s marketing team went into hyperdrive promoting its impressive battery life, which was 35 hours of demanding use for the standard unit and 45 hours for the solar-enhanced model. So, when the 1050 was launched with just 20 hours of life it felt,…

Cyclist, former British Cycling employee and long-time volunteer Paul West died last month at the age of 62. A long-time member of various cycling clubs, West worked at BC for 18 years, in Kettering and then at Manchester, until 2008. He was a competition officer for road, track and disability cycling, and saw three Track World Championships, the Commonwealth Games and two Tour de France visits in his time at British Cycling. He grew up on the south coast, with his first club being Worthing Excelsior CC. He was a track cyclist, as well as racing on the road. After his retirement, he continued to be involved in the world of cycling, as a volunteer, particularly in disability and paracycling events. “I always thought that he spent too much time…

I’ve ridden through hundreds of feed zones in my time racing a bike. My job is simple: find a bottle, carry on racing. This past weekend, for the first time in my life, I was on the other side. A bike racer turned soigneur. After a little bit of sickness, I decided not to compete in the final race of my season, but instead go and help some friends. It was the final round of the Gravel Earth Series, Europe’s main ranking event. It was bizarre being on the other side. As I crunched down my Choco Flakes at 6am, the game plan was set. We had five riders to feed between two ‘soigneurs’. It was to the start line to check jackets and take care of any lastminute requests,…

BC’s big deal British Cycling has signed a deal with global media rights and events company IMG, which will “supercharge their ambition” for the men’s and women’s Tours of Britain, according to its BC CEO John Dutton. The deal will provide “industry leading” production, digital marketing and more, it said. Tadej Pogačar on Strava Tadej Pogačar had a bit of a helping hand at Il Lombardia, apparently - he partly transmogrified into the Incredible Hulk 140 riders and machines is the new record, set at the weekend, for the most penny farthings stood in an upright ‘stack’. The riders included broadcaster Jeremy Vine, and beat the previous record by nine. Cav’s curtain call Sir Mark Cavendish will bring the curtain down on his pro cycling career at the Tour de…

You can cover a lot of ground on a bike, but too often you end up encircling the same small patch. On your regular ride you reach the point of knowing every slight alteration in road surface and where it happens; every gradient uptick; and precisely how long it takes, at what average speed, power and heart rate. You’ve been doing thousands of miles but going nowhere. It’s time to shake things up. String those miles together differently, you realise, and you could actually go somewhere and have an amazing experience. That’s how it started for me, before building to a record-breaking roundthe-world ride in 2009. Since then, I’ve regularly ridden the 3,000km between London and Istanbul (half of my family is Turkish), and I’ve spent prolonged periods touring Palestine…

Gravel has become the darling of cycling surfaces, growing fast in popularity across the world. Everywhere you look it seems, there’s a new event or bit of tech dedicated to the discipline. It’s the lure of riding on the path less travelled, the ultimate freedom. Gravel events are more than just bike rides, and they’re even bigger abroad, especially in the USA, where they’re more akin to festivals – expect live music, food trucks and an all-round good time. Having plied my trade as a road racer until last year, I diversified and took on the gravel world, creating a calendar that has taken me to some of the biggest and best races in both Europe and North America. There’s a certain beauty to gravel. You can race on the…

1 How should an amateur ensure they are fit enough for a multi-day cycling tour? I suggest preparing for an average day of your trip, whether it’s 60km or longer. Start by comfortably riding the expected daily distance, then simulate the multi-day experience by riding back-to-back days on weekends. For trips of over three days, take advantage of longer holidays such as Easter for consecutive rides, balancing overload and recovery. It’s not just physical strength but managing nutrition, contact points – hands, feet, seat – and sleep deprivation that matters. 2 Where do touring cyclists most commonly go wrong? Training should mimic daily mileage and repetitive strain. The shock comes from riding after a night’s sleep with lingering muscle fatigue. Practise early starts or shorter sleep cycles to simulate this.…

NDCXL Round 4 - Middlehills When: 2 November Where: Matlock Get set for what is sure to be a muddy day out in Derbyshire. Round four of the Notts and Derby CX League takes place at Middlehills Farm, on a course which includes the Mur de Middlehills. Entries are £13 in advance, or £20 on the day. Western CX League Round 5 When: 3 November Where: Stroud The Stratford Park course offers a mixture of grass, tarmac and woodland. It’s one of the more challenging courses in the league. Entries are £16 in advance, or £22.50 on the day.…

Word reaches us, via this magazine’s editor, of a keen cyclist who moved house a few months ago. As part of a programme of works to make his new home more bike-friendly, he arranged to have an outside tap installed at the front of the house. He followed that up with a new hose-reel. And as a final flourish, with much careful measuring and drilling, he fixed a rack to the house to hold the bike being washed by the back wheel, so that it wouldn’t get scratched by leaning against the wall. On the first occasion he used his new bike-wash, the instant he turned his back to get the hose, the bike rolled straight out of the rack and toppled over. That’s what happens when your driveway is…