I have been cycling around Oxford quite a bit over winter. I try to make up to 100 miles a week if I can. It’s great fun cycling on certain roads and cycle paths.

Although I am not training properly, I am reasonably fit and generally get a little joy from being one of the fastest cyclists around. But, in the past few days, I keep coming across people on electric bikes who seem to be able to do 1-25+ mph in three seconds flat. When I see a bike speeding past, I often see if I can try and keep up. But, last week I was unceremoniously dropped two days in succession. The first electric bike was one of these people carriers, with two small children in the front.

The guy ‘cycling’ the souped-up electric bike carrier looked more like he was doing a criterium rather than a steady commute around town. When it comes to helmets I do think it is worth wearing them. But, I’m not an evangelist, I certainly don’t think it is the main solution to cycle safety. I get slightly irritated by people who fall over and graze their arm and then spend the next 20 years telling you a helmet saved their life. Anyway, I digress despite my conservative views on bike helmets, it always makes me slightly uneasy seeing very young kids in people carriers without helmets. If I were charging them around town at 25mph, I would put a helmet on my young kids, they look very exposed should anything happen.

If I had my TT bike I might have been able to keep up, but a commuting bike with heavy panniers, and it’s pretty hard to get to 25mph on the flat.

But, I do worry these super-powerful electric bikes will give ‘cyclists’ a bad reputation. I was in a pedestrian shopping centre and two young kids were charging up and down on their electric scooters. They were having great fun, but it does add an air of uncertainty about the pedestrian area, I can understand why old people may feel uncomfortable with all these powerful and heavier machines.

LTNs in Oxford

Two years ago, I wrote a post about the pros and cons of LTNs in Oxford. I don’t have time to write another nuanced post about the scheme. It is controversial, and it creates winners and losers which is unfortunate. But, from my personal experience, I think they are great. It is much better and safer cycling around LTNs. I have definitely changed some cycle routes. Divinity Road was never a good place with heavy traffic, but now it is great. I try to stay out of the controversy, it is too toxic. But, there is something great about having neighbourhoods where the car is not so dominant and you can enjoy walking and cycling.

I took my bike to Reg Taylor for annual service and for the first time ever, I had to wait a week to get a service. They have been very busy with bike repairs, ancedotal evidence more are cycling perhaps.

The Old Shoe out of Llangollen is a short, steep climb in North Wales. It runs close to the better known Horseshoe Pass. (main A road). But the Old shoe makes an excellent venue for the national hill climb because it is feasible to close the road to traffic and is significantly steeper (an average for 12.% for 1 mile is a real challenge. The road is quite narrow and has a cattle grid, but is relatively quiet, as most cars take the Horseshoe Pass up the valley.

Old Shoe out of Llangollen Pass

• Distance 0.96 miles
  
• Avg Grade 12.5%
• Lowest Elev 677ft
• Highest Elev 1,314ft
• Elev Difference 637ft / 194m
  

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I remember sitting down with Maciek about two years ago (2019). I always enjoy talking about hill climbs, so was happy to take part. We spent quite a few hours and I think Maciek ended up with quite a bit of footage (as an amateur film-maker, I couldn’t guess at the number of hours Maciek must have spent editing all that footage). It was at a time when I wasn’t doing any competitive cycling, so it was nice to relive the old memories, which seemed quite ‘alive’.

On another occasion, we went out to Chinnor Hill in the Chilterns to do a short photoshoot.

I must admit, I then forgot about it for a year until Maciek thought about publishing in 2020. But, he waited another year and interviewed Bithja Jones and Andrew Feather, which was a good addition to the film.

I think it is very good. I like all the contributions and it gives a good insight into the world of hill climbing. It’s often hard watching yourself speak, but there you go.

After the 2021 national hill climb on Winnats Pass and now watching the whole final version, I’m super inspired to go out and cycle up some hills! I hope my body is as enthusiastic and willing as the rest of me! But, I guess that is part of the film, inspiring you to enter a hill climb 362 days until the Old Shoe in Llangollen, North Wales

The film is made by Maciek Tomiczek supported by Hunt.

The National Hill Climb Championship for 2021 was held Winnats Pass. It is an iconic venue for the event because it is an excellent hill (i.e. really hard – 11% average, 20% max gradient). The hill has a natural amphitheatre around the climb meaning there will be a great atmosphere for both riders and spectators.

It is also by far the most popular hill climb venue for the National with 10 visits. However, this will be the first visit to Winnats since 1977.

The 2021 race was very popular with many entrants and spectators. It was run under difficult conditions with rain and wind making the steep slopes even harder. In the men’s race Tom Bell, broke the decades old course record to fly up the climb in a time of 3:01.6 pipping last year’s winner Andrew Feather. In the women’s event, Bithja Jones narrowly pipped Mary Wilkinson to the title.

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I am currently going through a five year plan of clearing out my stuff. I have sold a lot of books on Ziffit. I have put five skinsuits in the loft and managed to throw away one. It’s amazing how you can accumulate skinsuits. They cost a lot of money but have no re-sell value (especially when the lyrca gets stretched). I don’t want to discard them because I hope to use them again, but who knows when?

The problem with taking a zen approach to your stuff is that with cycling stuff, it is easy to accumulate and difficult to throw away. I’m sure all cyclists can relate to keeping various odd bits in different parts of the house and not knowing when they will come in. You keep just in case and then forget their purpose.

In my loft, I couldn’t believe how many varieties of aero bottles I have lying around. That’s the problem with time trialling, there’s always watts to be saved by splashing some cash. I’m kind of relieved to be off the aero gains money-train. I also always seem to excel in collecting one single glove. I had about 4 right handed gloves with no pair.

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End to End by Paul Jones is a book about the people who have attempted the Lands End to John O Groats cycling record. It is also an exploration of the author’s own inner journey framed around his personal efforts to cycle the distance.

I haven’t read too many cycling books recently. Quite a few generic cycling books end up saying similar things. There are only so many books you want to read on the Tour de France, to say nothing of the interminably awful doping confession books I read several years ago.

With Paul Jones’ cycling books, at the very least, you know you are getting to get a new insight on a cycling subject, which has rarely been covered before. I looked forward to getting a copy, which I did from Blackwells.

In the first few chapters, I took some time to get into the book. There were a lot of personal opinions and insights into the author’s views and inner state of mind. (I was really surprised to learn Paul was a headmaster of a school!) There is admirable honesty and frankness, but it isn’t necessarily what I am looking for in a book.

If it is in places a little heavy going with personal stuff and a legitimate sense of injustice, I started to see it as a metaphor for a long distance endurance ride. Sometimes, it rains, but then you turn a corner and you remember why you made the effort.

The strength of Paul Jones as a writer is to take a relatively obscure rider and make their achievements feel impressive and worth knowing about. There are some end to enders I know something about – Eileen Sheridan (Wonder Wheels), John Woodburn (used to often talk about his End to End attempts at local time trials), but there were many new characters who I enjoyed reading about and finding what made them tick and why there were able to achieve something so unique. Like Jones’ other books, you feel a sincere celebration of the unsung amateur club rider. Men and women who achieved remarkable things and in a way that is much more inspiring than many of the so-called modern celebrities.

About halfway through the book I was thinking, it is a good book, but I probably won’t write a review. I’m not suitably enthusiastic about it. But, an interesting thing is that towards the end of the book, I started to feel genuinely inspired. Something clicked and you felt the real value of this great collective effort to transcend the limits through one of the hardest cycling challenges. Paul’s writing brings to life this difficult event and it shines a good light on the diverse characters who have made the end to end.

When I was a teacher I used to fine students 10p for swearing and with some students I made a lot of money! If there was 10p fine for swearing in this book, I think I would have got a 70% reduction on the price of the book. But, the corollary is that sometimes, Paul really hits the sweet spot for certain droll humour, where the words fly effortlessly in a seaming stream of consciousness that sweeps you along. Which living author could write so well about an inconspicuous lay-by, situated in the post-industrial waste that is Wolverhampton, on a gloomy, wet winter evening?

For me, the book was like an end to end, there were bits where you were struggling a little uphill, then flying downhill. But, by the end, you knew you were glad you had done it and really understood something of a very uplifting part of cycling.

Overall, I would recommend the book and it makes a good addition to any cycling library.

***

Appendix 1

Buying books online. During lockdown I have settled into buying everything online and to my great shame usually end up at the greedy monopolist Amazon. But, for books, I make a stand and always buy them elsewhere. Blackwells is a very good alternative to Amazon.

End to End – Blackwells

Appendix 2

I would often talk to the late John Woodburn after local time trials. Actually, it was more him talking to me. He would often bring up the End to End. What I remember is he complained bitterly that his sponsors made him do the record when he was ill (his attempt that failed). He was also incredibly annoyed that when someone broke his record, they did it by the smallest of margins. As usual with John Woodburn, I would listen to his stories with rapt attention and then break out into nervous laughter not knowing whether he was being serious, angry or really happy. The book was worth buying just for the realisation that it wasn’t just me, but everyone found John Woodburn a wonderful enigma.

Appendix 3

I remember when Mike Broadwith broke the End to End, it was a great event.

Appendix 4

Google have closed down their Feedburner email service (you can always rely on Google to close down useful services, if they don’t make $x billion profit per week ) so I switched to another called follow.it – I hope it works and you receive in your inbox.

Shortly after finishing my first 12 hour TT in 2016, I started getting pains in my right hip and lower right back, and also delayed muscle fatigue in the right glute.

I assumed it was related to cycling a lot that summer, but cutting back on training and racing didn’t diminish the problem, in fact, it got worse. I went to osteopaths and physiotherapists, they were all confident a bit of massage and physio would make leg stronger and get better. When it didn’t, after a few months my osteopath said he would ask for a second opinion as he felt he couldn’t do any more. (I appreciated his honesty). Another osteopath at the same clinic said it was probably all in your mind. So I tried to think away the pain and carry on, but it didn’t work out.

Then I tried the Egoscue method. Egoscue concentrates on improving your body posture, the logic is that if you out of position, you place strain on joints e.t.c. I was out of position with my head forward, one shoulder higher than the other and a bent back. I religiously did the egoscue exercises for a few months. My posture improved, but the hip issue was unsolved.

Then I heard it might be FAI, so I did an internet search and became convinced that was the end of cycling. However, not all the internet is useless. When I announced my retirement on my blog, a few readers said there were solutions to FAI. I was deeply grateful for those comments as it encouraged me to keep trying.

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