cycling Archives - Page 19 of 22

Cycling in the heat and avoiding dehydration

July 30, 2014July 25, 2014 by tejvan

Cycling in the heat can be challenging, especially if you are not used to it. When cycling in the heat you have to be careful to remain hydrated, plus taking on enough water and salts. In the UK, we rarely get the opportunity to ride in really hot conditions, which is probably why we struggle a bit more than continentals who are more used to it. Even when it goes above 25 degrees is can feel hard work. But, if we go to Europe or US, it can be even more challenging with temperatures of 35 degrees plus.

The good news is that cycling is one of the better sports to do in the heat. At least you get a cooling effect from the wind – something you don’t get so much when running.

Heat in the Tour de France

On the BBC, there’s a good article by Geraint Thomas on riding in the Tour de France with temperatures nudging 35 degrees +

Thomas writes that:

“I had been drinking around three bottles of fluid every hour – 1.5 litres – to keep myself hydrated and to ride at that threshold. (BBC link)

For a six hour stages, that’s 18 bottles or 9 litres. That’s tough for whoever is on water bottle carrying duty that day.

Even with all that water, Thomas says his head felt as if it was going to explode. It’s one thing to ride in the heat, it’s another thing to ride at threshold in the heat. Thomas says he got used to the heat a bit, riding in the Tour down Under. But, even a professional with the best possible backup and experience, still finds it really tough; that’s an element of riding in the heat – it is always going to be a bit harder.

Tips for riding in the heat

The need for water can increase dramatically. Once the temperature goes above a certain level, you can need much more than usual. It’s not necessarily a linear progression The danger is that you just take the usual amount, plus a bit more. Thomas writes that he was getting three bottles an hour. Just to emphasise – that is really a lot. But, the amount you need is quite an individual thing. To put it bluntly some people sweat more than others.
Consider increasing your water carrying capacity. In winter, you can get away with one or two bottle cages, but if you need to be drinking 2 bottles an hour, it can become a real pain, having to keep stopping. For a pro, like Thomas it’s much easier when you have a team car and people to pass you water. For a lone, unsupported rider, it’s a bit more of a pain to keep stopping. If you’re going to be riding a lot in the heat, consider 1000ml bottles (I use this 1L SIS water bottle – good on down tube, but gets in way on the seat tube) or an additional rear mounted bottle cage, so you don’t have to stop so much.
Electrolytes. When you’re drinking extra quantities of water, you need to take water with electrolytes in. If you just take plain water, you can deplete your salt levels and this can create real problems. A litre of sweat can contain up to about 800 mg of sodium (depending on person) – that’s 50% of recommended intake of sodium (link). I like to take some small packets of electrolytes in back pocket, to put in bottles when I fill up.
Reduce concentration of energy drinks. When it’s really hot, your stomach will not appreciate highly concentrated energy drinks. As you will be drinking more you can afford to reduce the concentration of energy powder and you will still get enough carbohydrate.
Getting the right quantity of water and electrolytes is not so easy. It’s hard to give precise quantities because everyone will be different depending on their weight, effort levels, propensity to sweat e.t.c. One very rough rule of thumb is to check quantity / colour of urine. You will notice on very hot days, you need to work harder drinking extra water to keep urine normal colour.
It is also useful to weigh yourself before and after a ride, you can easily lose a couple of kilos during a ride. However, don’t feel you have to keep the same weight after the ride, it is inevitable your weight goes down a little after a ride (even when it’s freezing), but if it is more than normal, it is a sign of excess water loss.
One thing about riding in the heat is that it requires a certain discipline and focus to keep drinking and taking on energy. If you’re not careful, you can just suffer and not take on enough. Often it is only when you stop, that you realise how thirsty you are.
Just because it’s hot in the valley, doesn’t mean it is hot everywhere. If you’re climbing mountains or even big hills it can still be a lot cooler high up. A good rain jacket can help protect should the weather change.
With riding in the heat, there is an element of acclimatisation. If you go from a cold British winter to 35 degrees in Australia, it’s quite a shock to the system. The longer you spend riding in the heat, the better you will get. The body can change the way it sweats and it becomes more tolerable over time. Therefore, if possible give yourself time to adjust to the heat.
There is a psychological element to riding in the heat. I’ve heard many British people say quite strongly “I hate the heat” – “I’m useless in the heat”. I do think this makes it even more difficult. Certainly some people will find it harder in the heat, but try and avoid being too pessimistic. Even if you’ve had a bad experience riding in the heat, there is probably quite a lot you can do to make it better next time – acclimatisation, drinking more, and gaining more confidence to riding in the heat. Don’t write off you ability to ride in the heat. See it as a challenge – something to get used to, like you train to get faster, you need to train to get used to the heat.
It is possible to drink too much. It can cause a condition known as hyponatremia – when you take so much water, cells become depleted in sodium. The phenomena has been observed most in slow marathon runners, who took a long time, and drank too much at every water station. There is an element of common sense. You don’t have to down litres of water before starting – this will just make you want to stop.
Caffeine. There seems to be conflicting research, some studies suggest caffeine can act as a diuretic and increase chance of dehydration. Others negate this. But, I avoid anyway.

Questions on cycling uphill

July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 by tejvan

A bit of a hobby is seeing the Google keywords that people search to come to your blog. These are some of the interesting keywords and questions that people type in Google to end up at cyclinguphill.com. Unsurprisingly many things connected with cycling up a hill seems to get linked to this blog.

These are some of the random keyword searches that people put into Google. However, many of these queries can be answered with three golden rules of cycling uphill.

horse-shoe-pass — Horseshoe Pass in Wales – a good hill to practise on with max gradient of 10%

For example, take the Google search – ‘can’t cycle up hills’#3

3 Rules

You will have to cycle up hills slowly.
Get a lower gear for your bike. This makes it easier to cycle slowly.
To get better at cycling uphill, you need to do more of it. Eventually after years of practise, you will be able to cycle up hills, slightly less slowly.

If all else fails, moves to Netherlands, but cycling uphill is not as intimidating as it might first look.

For the very keen:

Check out these techniques of cycling uphill.

If you’re really keen:

check out these hill climb intervals.

– Some suggest the ideal hill climb interval is a gap of about a year in between each big effort. Others of a more masochistic sort, like to see how many times they can go up and down a hill in a day. You pays your money and you take your choice.

The hills never end

It may seem daunting at first, but once you’ve done some training to get stronger and more adept at going uphill, you will soon be seeking out the hardest and steepest hills to see what time you can do – e.g. 100 climbs.

Google Searches related to Cycling Uphill

‘riding uphill find it hard’

This is good. Riding uphill is supposed to be hard – whether a beginner or pro, cycling uphill is never easy – otherwise where would be the fun? As Greg LeMond once said about cycling uphill. (much repeated advise) – ‘It never gets easier, you just get faster.’

ralph-wilson-hill-climb — Ralph Wilson in National Hill climb, looking in great shape.

‘biked uphill almost passed out gear‘

‘Almost passed out’ is something hill climbers might like to boast about. If you cycled so hard you nearly passed out, this is a sign that you could make an excellent cyclist. If you don’t actually enjoy that feeling of nearly passing out or if you have a 100 miles further to cycle after going up hill. The best advice is to go slower (see: rule #1)

This is the real secret to riding uphill – go slower. Lowering your expectations is always a good way to get through life.

Another thing to consider is getting a compact chain set or even triple granny chainring (rule #2 – get a lower gear). There are some people who will tell you a granny chainring is for well ‘Grannies’ but when you’re struggling up Kirkstone pass in 39*25 – zigzagging all over the road trying to prevent yourself falling off into a ditch – you soon learn macho gears are no comfort. Get a lower gear, and enjoy the ride.

Tour shorts

July 15, 2014July 15, 2014 by tejvan

The Tour de France was supposed to be Contador vs Froome. After watching the Dauphine, it looked might it could be an epic battle between the two. But, now it’s looking like the Vicenzo Nibali and Astana show. There have been so many twists and turns already, but now, maybe no one is able to attack Nibali and Astana all the way to Paris.

On the plus side, it’s looking like it will be a cracking Vuelta – a three way battle between three of the world’s best cyclists – Froome, Contador and Quintana. Perhaps even Wiggo will get his long awaited chance to ride as super-domestic.

If the Tour is going to be predictable from now on, at least that is good news for those who need to go out and train on the bicycle. I have a 12 hour time trial in 11 days, and I could do with some training more than just watching the telly. As the event looms, I’m torn between resting and doing nothing and going out to panic train to get a few 7 hour rides in. Common sense will probably prevail and it will be a compromise with a few 2-3 hour rides to keep ticking over.

Cobbles, classics and Froome is down and out

July 10, 2014 by tejvan

I took a day off training to watch the fifth stage of the Tour de France, which featured the cobbles of Paris Roubaix. One thing about the classics is they always make fascinating viewing – even if as a rider I’m glad I don’t ride them. One thing you could absolute guarantee about the day – it wasn’t going to be a sprint finish with Marcel Kittel taking another stage.

The strange thing about watching the stage is that you just had one of those feelings it wasn’t going to be Froome’s day. He just didn’t look comfortable on the bike and with riders going down like a ten pin bowling park, you just had that gut feeling Froome was not going to make it.

It was an exciting stage (though with a macabre subtext, there is part of you feeling slightly guilty for ‘enjoying’ watching a spectacle which is essentially made by the danger and so many crashes.An interesting stage, but a shame for the long-term of the tour when defending champion goes out. I was looking forward to a Contador / Froome duel in the mountains. But, that’s cycling and no-one is indispensable.

A few weeks ago, Nibali looked on poor form, struggling to keep up with Froome and Contador – who would have imagined the out of form climber, dropping Cancellara and Sagan on wet cobbles? It was an impressive display and leaves mixed emotions about the desirability of cobbles in the tour. It was definitely an awesome ride by the guys at the front of the race.

The sad thing for Froome is that once the riders got to the cobbles it actually seemed safer, with the peleton smashed to small groups, the frequency of crashes diminished. It was just a crazy 15 minutes before the cobbles where riders were going down like no tomorrow. But, it seems hard enough to ride on cobbles when fully fit, with dodgy wrists he may have not made it anyway. The irony is that it was probably the crash from yesterday on a flat wide road in glorious sunshine which was the biggest factor in causing him to retire.

The Tour in Britain was a fantastic success, but British riders are having their worse tour for many years. Hopefully Geraint Thomas got all his bad luck earlier in the season – he’s a strong rider as he showed yesterday, helping Porte catch up some time. The Tour in Britain was a great success despite Cavendish falling – that was a nice thing about Le Tour in Yorkshire – it was great – independent of home success. But, we could sorely do with a British stage victory – if only to give us something to talk about other than – why didn’t we pick Bradley Wiggins?

Thankfully, it’s a boring flat stage today, so no excuses for not going out training. The national 100 is suddenly looming on the horizon – temporarily lost in the fog of Tour de France excitement.

Related

Tour de France

Inside Team Sky – David Walsh – Review

January 7, 2017July 9, 2014 by tejvan

Inside Team Sky is written by Sunday Times sports writer, David Walsh. It covers a year spent with the team, during Froome’s first 2013 Tour de France victory. David Walsh is the author of ‘Seven Deadly Sins‘ which is a summary of his exposure of doping by L. Armstrong and US Postal. The book gives an inside look at how Team Sky prepare for races and an insight into some of the characters in the team. But, the strong overtone of the whole book is whether Team Sky are riding clean.

David Walsh is considered one of the most persistent investigators into the doping of Lance Armstrong. For many years, Walsh dug around finding evidence to support his initial gut feeling that Armstrong was doped. If you read the USADA report on US postal, published in 2012, a lot of that information (apart from rider testimonies) had been uncovered years earlier by David Walsh and published in L.A. Confidential.

It’s easy to jump on the Armstrong /doping bandwagon these days. But, back in cycling’s dark ages of the early 2000s, it was a brave man who went against Team Armstrong and his army of lawyers. I never liked Armstrong and always believed his connection to Ferrari was evidence he was doping. But, when I look back at articles I wrote, I noticed how careful I was to say anything outright. I was very conscious of being sued. (I did once got threatened to be sued by a ‘friend’ of Boris Johnson for a biography I once wrote, but that’s a long story I’m not going to repeat here.) Anyway, to investigate Armstrong was no easy task.

The 2012 USADA report was so damning, so overwhelming – it blew the lid once and for all on the doping legacy of cycling. Although painful, it felt like one of the best things to happen to procycling – it was an important moment when even the UCI kicked Armstrong out of the sport.

But, the problem with exposing the depth of doping in the peleton and the extent to which people could lie to get away with – left a strong feeling of bitterness, cynicism and mistrust amongst cycling fans.

There are 100 reasons to not take drugs. But, I think the worst thing about the decades of drug taking is how it affects the rest of the world, making people more cynical, bitter and meaning clean athletes have to deal with this mistrust and suspicion – that is by far the worst legacy of the doping decades, and ironically those who doped don’t have to face the music, but usually ended up with quite lucrative book deals.

Anyway, Inside Team Sky

I enjoyed the book because it is an interesting insight into the workings and people who make up Team Sky. Dave Brailsford is quite a character, so is Froome, but it was also interesting to read about the less well know characters – the doctors, soigneurs. There was one Italian guy (I’ll check his name) who used to be a pro cyclist in the late 1990s – he gave up because he couldn’t compete, but he wasn’t going to dope to keep his dream of being a procyclist alive. He’s overjoyed to work at Team Sky and throws his heart and soul into the team. It’s good that the quiet guys of the sport get their moment of recognition.

Doping

David Walsh is clearly on a mission to sniff around for any evidence of doping. If you didn’t know the history of the sport, you would think it overly intrusive. Yet, it is necessary because of the state of the sport. When Walsh investigated Armstrong, evidence fell into his lap like leaves falling from a tree. In Team Sky he comes to the conclusion the Team is built around the premise of being clean and not doping.

Doping is boring

One thing is that you can get tired of books on doping, even investigative books. But, this has enough humour, interest and inside information to make it an interesting cycling book. I always judge a cycling book on whether it has something new to offer, and not regurgitate something old. There is an interesting glimpse into the workings of Team Sky

Not cynical enough?

I instinctively support the underdog. I don’t like Murdoch papers, there’s nothing about Team Sky I would normally warm to. But, they do seem a very easy target for those who want to be suspicious about cycling. It is a little strange when you consider there are many riders / director sportives with a clear doping past. Yet, if you portray yourself as a clean team, it seems to attract a level of scrutiny rarely seen in any sport, at any time.

I like Walsh because he was willing to go out on a limb and say US Postal were doping. But, equally he is happy to go out on a limb and say Team Sky are clean. This happens to agree with my viewpoint. Some will say, you should sit on the fence and retain a shed load of cynicism. But, being overly cynical and suspicious is as damaging as ignoring the bullying and lies of Armstrong.

It does seem there are some people who would secretly be quite happy to see evidence that Sky are doping. Because this book doesn’t find any evidence which supports their prejudgement so they don’t like it.

TUEs and Ethics

Ironically I received Inside Team Sky on the day David Walsh wrote a piece in the Sunday Times criticising Chris Froome’s use of TUE (Therapeutic use exemption) before the Tour of Romandie. I didn’t read the piece in the Sunday Times, only a snippet in Cycling News, (which I treat with a degree of caution – always best to read an author directly not through someone else’s filter) I don’t believe Chris Froome was taking a TUE for performance enhancement. But, it leaves you wondering, don’t Team Sky understand the history of abuse of TUE’s in the sport?

Froome and Paul Kimmage

On a side note. I was very happy to see Chris Froome getting interviewed by Paul Kimmage at the Sunday Independent – In the Eye of the Storm’. – relating to the TUE issue. Kimmage is a fierce anti-doping advocate. Perhaps sometimes too fierce, but it is good he spent several hours with Froome. It’s also good to hear direct from Chris Froome.

US Postal and Team Sky Comparison

Often we get the lazy comparison that Team Sky are like US postal because they want to win at all costs. I don’t accept that, and I’m glad Walsh is willing to say that. Last night I watched – Stop at nothing, The Lance Armstrong Story – still available on BBC iPlayer. It’s 90 minutes of grim retelling of the wasted Armstrong decade. It was a reminder of how bad things were. To me, Armstrong and Froome and like night and day. I can’t see any meaningful comparison with the systematic US Postal doping and Team Sky.

Overall

I recommend the book. I’ve read many of Walsh’s books on Armstrong, and it is a relief to read a book on cycling, which paints a different picture, and offers hope the sport is moving on.

Perhaps, my review is also coloured by the fact I feel a strange kind of empathy for Froome (some have kindly said I make Chris Froome look fat – which I think is kind of a complement in cycling circles, I’m not sure. ) I often put myself in the position of what is like to be a pro cyclist and ride clean, but face a barrage of questions that he has to deal with? To be honest, I’m often glad I took the amateur route.

When I review books, I often like them because I generally only want to read books I think I will like. For example in Waterstones, next to Inside Team Sky – I see George Hincapie’s Loyal Lieutenant. – I will never read that book because it will just make me mad. Essentially, do I want to read book on a guy who took drugs and cheated for several years, but still would like us to believe he is a good guy and brave cyclist? No thanks.

Inside Team Sky at Amazon.co.UK

Inside Team Sky at Amazon.com

Stage Two of Tour de France 2014 photo blog

July 7, 2014July 6, 2014 by tejvan

After being blown away by stage 1, we had the good fortune to have a second bite at the cherry. Yet again the world’s biggest cycle race was passing over God’s own County and straight over many of my old training roads. It felt too good to be true, a weekend of cycling heaven.

The French Gendarmes looked pretty serious. But, the British police were really enjoying themselves. It will remain an abiding memory watching a police car go up the climb with the theme tune to “Last of the Summer’s Wine’ blearing out of the windows with four policeman giving high fives!

Family and friends came from all over the country – they had a field day. If you want to be seen on TV bring a flag, like this Irish flat. I was on TV twice! though you can’t see much of me. I was too busy taking photos. That’s another dilemma of watching the tour do you concentrate on cheering and enjoying or do you try and capture something?

Back of peleton

Water carriers – I wouldn’t want to carry that weight going uphill.

Watching Le Tour de France in Yorkshire + Photos

November 1, 2016July 5, 2014 by tejvan

It was a really great day watching the Tour de France in Yorkshire.

Despite near saturation media coverage, I still find it difficult to get my head around the notion that cycling in the UK is mainstream. But, today it was all about cycling. It was surreal cycling along roads I used to train on with virtually no cars, just hundreds of other cyclists. Even when I did see a car, they were kind, courteous and patient. I know it won’t always be like this, but it was something to experience for a day.

Even at the best of times, it seems cycling in Britain is something to be tolerated – ‘OK, you’re a cyclist but can you please keep in that segregated cycle lane, thank-you very much‘.

King of the yellow jumpers. The Black Knight – He is famous for crippling the French army at the battle of Crécy in the 14th century!

I’d never thought I’d see the day, when my county of birth (1) would come to a virtual standstill to give 100% attention on a cycle race passing through. Such enthusiasm and excitement I haven’t seen since the 2012 Olympics (and that was pretty special). I went to see the Olympic road race in the centre of London, but to be honest, the Tour de France is on a completely different level. The Olympic road race was just one of many unbelievable events – The Tour de France demands and fully receives centre stage. They don’t fly 60 French gendarmes in, just to taste the local Wensleydale Cheese. It is all a bit surreal, almost unbelievable. I think many in Yorkshire are proud that we’ve helped add something quite significant to the Tour de France.

yorkshire-flags — Yorkshire! Yorkshire! Yorkshire!

I thought I’d take the train into Ilkley four hours before the race was due to pass by. I couldn’t get the train because it was full. This is a 600 capacity train running four times an hour. I’ve never seen a full train at Menston before. I walked home and got on my bicycle.

The Peleton in full flight

I went to watch in two places.

First up was Burley bypass. A few miles from my parents house in Menston. Normally 10km from the start on a flat stage, and spectators are pretty thin on the ground – even at the Tour de France. But, this was the day for everyone to be there. I met some old friends from Otley CC. My whole family had turned out to support the race.

Oxenhope Moor

July 4, 2014 by tejvan

Oxenhope Moor climb (Cock Hill) from Oxenhope – south towards Hebden Bridge.

Length 2.1 miles
average gradient – 6%
Max height – 432m
Height gain: 709ft (216m)
Category 3
Max gradient: 10%
Time: 9 mins
OS Map 104

Oxenhope Moor is a long steady climb from the village of Oxenhope to the top of Oxenhope Moor. It sometimes goes by the less well known name ‘Cock Hill’. Though when the Tour de France came through town, they decided Côte d’ Oxenhope Moor had a better ring to it.

I’ve been up Oxenhope moor a few times. There is some great hills around the Keighley and Worth Valley (e.g. Thwaites Brow and Hainworth Lane). Keighley has some of the best cobbled climbs this side of Belgium. But, Oxenhope Moor is less strenuous than some of those short steep climbs, but at over 2 miles, it makes a good test, and if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, it can be really hard work on the exposed slopes.

After leaving the village of Oxenhope (At the end of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway) It passes the Wagon & Horses Inn on the left. Also after a few hairpins, you can take a left turn to take a harder and steeper minor road over the moor past the Holline Hill wind farm. This takes you down to Luddenden. By the main A 6033 is probably a better route to take – it doesn’t get too busy.

The climb is hardest as you leave the village of Oxenhope, but eases off towards the top.

There is a great descent from the top of Oxenhope moor into Hebden Bridge. Long and sweeping, though parked cars on the road mean you have to take care. From Hebden Bridge you are spoilt for choice if you want to keep cycling uphill – you could take in Cragg Vale or if you want something very steep try Mytholm Steepes or Halifax Lane from Luddenden.

Oxenhope Moor Tour de France 2014

Oxenhope Moor is one of the many climbs on stage 2 of the Tour de France

Hebden Bridge to Oxenhope Moor (north to south)

From Hebden Bridge to Oxenhope Moor, the climb is even longer, with over 300 metres of climbing. It is steep at the bottom as you come out of Hebden Bridge but gets less steep the further up you go.

Length – 3.5mi
Average gradient: 5%
Height gain: 1,018ft (310m)

Tour de France fever hits Yorkshire

June 30, 2014June 30, 2014 by tejvan

I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting a lot of traffic in recent days for the Google search ‘Buttertubs pass’, Grinton Moor, Cragg Vale’ – You could almost guess the route of the Tour de France by the popularity of keyword searches.

cow-calf-tour — Ilkley from the Cow and Calf – you will be able to watch the Tour from a distance snake its way along the A65 from this vantage point

The Tour de France is a big deal for the Yorkshire; we haven’t had this much excitement since the Yorkists gave the House of Lancashire a good thrashing in the old War of the Roses (And if history buffs claim the House of Lancashire won the war of the Roses, it’s not the version we remember here in Yorkshire.)

But, it would be churlish to bring up old conflicts from the dark ages, the Tour de France is giving the old county the kind of uplifting excitement and inspiration – not seen in Britain since the 2012 Olympics. Like the Olympics, the Tour de France is another vehicle for creating a spirit of international friendship and goodwill. It is an unexpected benefit of attracting a big cycle race to your shores.

Goodness me, all the pubs in Otley have translated their names into French. This is the greatest outpouring of British-French unity since British pubs started serving garlic bread! in the mid 1980s.

In a country struggling to deal with the growing influence of the European Union, you may think Britain was primarily beset with trying to regain it’s Anglo Saxon independence. But, even in the heartlands of our EU bashing county, there’s been an outbreak of French lingo, and appreciation of most things Gaelic. The Tour de France has done more for British-European relations, than a whole string of EU directives and speeches.

British time trial championship experiences

June 26, 2015June 11, 2014 by tejvan

The British time trial championship has been held annually since 1997. Originally a joint CTT / BC promotion, it was for a while it was also called the Circuit championship (to distinguish with long standing CTT championships of 25 miles, 50 miles e.t.c) In the past few years, it has been run solely by British Cycling to ensure the best spot in the calender so that Pro riders can make sure they can enter, and pick up any precious UCI points on offer.

In the domestic time triallist calender, this is the big one. A chance to compete against all the pros.

This year there was a certain logic to me not entering the British Time Trial Championship in Wales this July – My bike is of dubious UCI legality; I sold my only UCI compliant tribars, and it’s a hassle to get another pair. Then there is the cost of BC license, new tribars e.t.c., and I’m up in Yorkshire that week e.t.c., e.t.c. Yet, although there is a logic in not entering, I still feel a pang of regret when I see the startsheet. – especially after learning how hilly the course is.

The startsheet shows the strength in depth of British cycling; even in the absence of Chris Froome, it’s probably one of the strongest time trial line ups in Europe.

It also shows the unique nature of the sport of cycling, that you can still rock up alongside people who you watch and admire on tv and get to partake in the same race as them.

These are some past experiences of riding the British Time Trial Championships, now organised by British Cycling under UCI rules.

2005

In 2005, I finished 14th, five minutes behind the winner Stuart Dangerfield in Penistone, Yorkshire. It was very hilly race and my first season of racing. After the first lap, I was in a ridiculously high position after storming up the hill as if it was a 5 mile prologue. I blew up spectacularly, but for one lap out of three I was riding with the best. In the absence of any expectation, I enjoyed it all tremendously. It was the first race my mother came to watch and she said unlike everyone else, I never braked to go around a corner she was watching from. I’m not sure whether she said this as criticism or as a complement.

2006

I finished near last in that race. I wasn’t in good form, and not racing much that year. I also got lost and took a wrong turn at a roundabout; at least it was a good excuse for a dismal performance. The only thing I remember about that championship was that I even turned up on the wrong day (arrived on Sat, to learn it was on the next day Sunday). Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from Oxford.

2009

The third championship was on local roads near Buckinghamshire. Bradley Wiggins, after finishing 4th in the Tour de France in July, stormed around the course to win in 1.02. I was a good nine minutes behind in 28th place; it was one of the few races I managed that year, but it was still good to participate.

2010