I remember in the run up to the London Olympics of 2012, there was a strong undercurrent of pessimism and cynicism – “Too expensive”, “we aren’t ready”, “why bother” e.t.c. Yet, when the games started – for three weeks – there was an unusual and highly welcome sense of optimism in promoting an event that did help bring the world together.
If there was pessimism before the 2012 Olympics, the run up to the 2016 Olympics has been an unusually difficult on many different levels. I hope, despite all the outer problems, the Olympics can still work a little magic. Whatever happens on the outer level, the Olympics always has the potential to unite the world and bring out the better qualities of human nature.
One of the best expositions of the Olympic spirit can be seen in a documentary about Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony from 2012 “One Night in 2012“. The success of Boyle was to make ordinary volunteers at the heart of the ceremony. The Opening Ceremony was a success on many levels – and gave many people a real once in a lifetime opportunity. (It is available on iPlayer here, and I wrote some more thoughts on personal blog here)
The Tour de France is over, and there is nothing left to do apart from watch videos of Froome running up Mont Ventoux. Which even on repeat viewings always make me laugh.
It seems within the Tour de France, there are several races in one. And because it is a three week long sporting race, we tend to place a great value on how entertaining the race is. For various reasons, the GC battle in the Tour de France never seems to get the same level of drama and unpredictability of the Giro and especially the Vuelta.
If you look at all the past editions of the Tour de France it is quite rare to have a see-saw battle between the top contenders. Often, we get a period of time, where one rider seems to be better than the rest, and it becomes more a procession than a battle. – Anquetil, Hinault, Merckx, Coppi, Indurain, Armstrong and now the Froome era. Often during their period of dominance, the popularity of these grand tour winners is quite low, because the public can resent the lack of drama and competition. Usually it is retirement or the final defeat and proof of a fallibility, which brings a change in popularity. (though there is a notable exception to this rule, you shouldn’t have too much trouble working out.) I can’t think of many sports where the gallant loser is often more popular than the greatest winner of the age. In football, for example, we don’t admire the failings and human fallibility of the English football team, with the same aplomb of an eternal second like Raymond Poulidor.
On Monday, I posted a review of Velotoze – a shoe cover for keeping your feet dry and warm. It was a classic case of bad timing – with the long awaited summer finally arriving and turning into a bit of a heat wave. The UK does tend to go into a bit of a melt down when it’s suddenly warm. Today, I went out, but swapped the Velotoze for factor 50 sun cream.
I suffer in the cold, so like to assume I will cope fine with the heat. I’ve spent all year wishing it was warmer, so now it is 32 degrees I felt obliged to go out in the hottest part of the day (1-3pm), and do some hill intervals – just to see what it is like.
Climbing up Langbar, rear mech got caught in spokes and got torn off frame
I was worried that meant a new frame for a moment, but I think it just means a new rear mech hanger and new rear derailleur.
Biggest potential culprit lower limit screw on rear derailleur not satisfactorily set to prevent changing down into wheel.
Looks like a bent spoke in frame.
To cycle home, I shortened chain a lot. But, it wasn’t great because it kept slipping upwards and then the chain was too stretched. I limped home from the top of Langbar, but it could have been worse. Probably the worst mechanical I’ve had whilst out riding a bike.
Giro Selector is an aerodynamic time trial helmet, which like most other helmets on the market makes strong claims to be very aero.
I bought the Giro Selector because the old version – the Giro Advantage has performed well for me in both wind tunnel tests (2011) and Aero Coach sessions. I also like the Advantage because it is relatively light at 375 grams. However, the Giro Advantage has a couple of disadvantages
No visor
Gap between underneath tail
The helmet is faster if you tape up vents.
I did buy a visor for the Giro Advantage and stuck it on. But over time, it came off, so I taped up with electrical tape. But, it always had an impression of being a bit scruffy and never really secure. Perhaps for aesthetic reasons, I stopped using, which is a shame because it would probably have been faster than other helmets I bought. Taping on a visor isn’t great because it could start to come loose and it’s harder to rip off in misty conditions.
The last month of June I rode nearly 1,600 miles which included 284 miles for the 12 hour. After the 12 hour race my legs were a little stiff for a day or two. But, generally felt OK. After a few easy recovery rides, the legs no longer feel jaded, but back to normal. The problem has been the shoulders, damaged during the ride – I can’t ride on TT bike, and am struggling to shake it off. At this rate I won’t be able to ride Nat 100 on Sun.
Because of good recovery I have a feeling I didn’t go 100% in race, held back by weather and shoulders, so despite the temptation to never ride again, I can see the pull of long distance riding. I can imagine future attempts at 24 hours and even longer. Something to look forward to…
In training for the 12 hour, I’ve been only riding a time trial bike, and since using a single 58 chainring, have been severely limited to sticking to flattish terrain. I don’t think I’ve done a hill climb interval for nearly two months, which, since I’m supposed to be a specialist hill climber, feels a little strange.
In the UK, the local 10 mile time trial is a popular way of measuring your fitness and speed. It is an easy discipline to enter and appeals to anyone from the really keen time trialist to the more everyday cyclist interested in trying something different. The great thing with a 10 mile time trial is that you can just turn up on a decent road worthy bike and see how you get on.
An aero position
But, as soon as you’ve done your first 10, you will want to try and beat your previous time. This is the great attraction of time-trialling, even if you come last, there is always the incentive to try and beat your previous pb. There are quite a few ways to improve your times in a 10 mile time trial – from spending money on some aero equipment to good old fashioned training. The best thing is to maximise in every possible area. How far you go depends on how much you get addicted to the speed and trying to beat your previous best.
Main ways of going faster in a 10
Training. In particular, specific training to improve power and speed for the 10 mile distance.
More aerodynamic position. Most riders can shave off seconds (even minutes) by making their position more aerodynamic. (Some methods are more expensive than others)
Faster course. Fortunately or unfortunately, some courses produce quicker times than others. The best is not to get hung up on the course you do, but try to beat your pb for local courses.
Faster tubulars. Ride track tubs and you can go faster, but risk a puncture.
What is a good time for a 10 mile TT?
A ten mile time trial can taken anything between 17.20 (over 34 mph) and 40 minutes.
A good target for a fit club cyclist is to break 24 minutes on a standard quiet course. This requires an average speed of 25 mph. To win an open event, depending on the course, the most common time is something between 20.00 and 21.00. A big target is to break 20 minutes (average speed of over 30 mph).
10 mile TT Records
Bradley Wiggins winning the 2010 British Time Trial Championships
“It was a magnificently imaginative invention, a form of odyssey in which the lonely heroism of unpaced riders was pitted against relentless competition and elemantal nature. The Tour encompassed the territory of France, and Desgrange later claimed that it encouraged a sense of national identity, establishing La Patrie in clear geographic terms.”
– Jim McGurn on the Tour de France
The Tour de France is one of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world. In terms of spectators getting to see the event live, it has no parallel – with millions lining the roads of France and Europe throughout the month of July.
Stats of the Tour de France
In 2013 – a caravan of 4,500 people including organisers – teams – media – partners – publicity caravan – providers made up the tour. This excludes many volunteers and local council workers who help to get the tour ready.
Riders
198 riders at the start (22 teams of 9 riders) 2014)
300 support staff
Route for 2014
3,664 km (21 stages)
4 countries visited (the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Spain)
33 French departments visited
36 stage towns/cities
Internet popularity
30 million unique visitors / 110 million pages viewed on letour.fr in 2013
Most popular languages for viewing letour.fr: French, German, Spanish and English (the most visited version)
Spectators by the side of the road
An estimated 12 million spectators (2013)
63% of men and 37% of women
Average time by road side – 6 and a half hours of presence on average on the road-side.
Media coverage
Broadcast in 190 countries (2013)
Almost 100 channels including 60 live broadcasters
90 hours of live programmes (broadcast internationally)
5,500 hours of broadcasting throughout the world
3.5 billion viewers worldwide (in 2013)
Le Tour de France in Yorkshire 2014
An estimated 2.5 – 4 million fans lined the roads to see the Tour de France cover two stages in Yorkshire.
“I can see the Tour in their hearts, and in their eyes. For that, I say thank you to everyone in Yorkshire who has made this Grand Depart so very, very special.”
Christian Prudhomme
How Long is the Tour?
The early editions of the Tour de France helped French gain a better sense of national unity and geographical identity.
Modern versions are roughly about 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles) spread out over three weeks. Early Tours were longer. In 1926, riders had to cover 5,745 km over 17 stages.
The longest ever stage in the Tour de France was on 7th July 1919 – 482 km (300 miles) won by Jean Alavoine from Les Sables-d’Olonne to Bayonne.
Average speed in the Tour de France?
In 1926, the tour winner averaged 24 km/h over the whole 5,745 km. By comparison in 2010, the average speed was just under 40 km/h for the 3,642 km.
The slowest average speed was in 1919, when French roads were in a bad state after the First World War. The winner Firmin Lambot (Bel) completed the course at an average speed of 24.056 km/h
Any cyclist will know that riding into a block headwind can be more difficult than going up a hill. Many tips for riding into a wind are common sense, but it is worth repeating for completeness.
The effect of wind (crosswind causing echelon)
Get low and aero. Riding on the drops is more aerodynamic that riding on the tops. Also, if you can bear the pressure, get as low as you can. I spend a lot of time riding on Time trial bike, so have adapted to a relatively lower position. It is a big help for keeping low in headwind riding. See more tips for being more aerodynamic
Make sure your clothes are not acting as a wind break. The worst is to have a jacket half zipped up billowing out the back. It is better to have the jacket flapping around than half zipped up to catch the wind and act as a parachute. If possible, take off any surplus jacket, though often when it’s very windy, it’s raining too.
Don’t worry about average speed. When riding into a headwind and you’re doing 15mph on a flat bit of road, it can be demoralising. But, the important thing is to maintain a sustainable power, rather than trying to keep a typical average speed. This doesn’t mean you will try keep the same power into headwind as tailwind. You will want to make more effort into headwind, but sometimes, you will just have to go into a lower gear and keep going at a lower speed.
Improve quality of group riding. Riding in a group is best way to take some shelter from headwind. Taking it in turns and forming effective paceline. Don’t let gaps appear or let anyone drop off. Stronger riders can take longer turns.
Choosing rides
In very windy conditions.
I will tend to ride into headwind, to get tailwind on way back.
I will look for routes which are more sheltered and leave the overexposed moors for another day.
I have been known to occasionally take a train into a block headwind. e.g. train from Bingley to Clapham North Yorks. It costs £10, but it’s a real treat to miss out on 20 miles of headwind.
Pacing a time trial into headwind/tailwind
Generally, it does pay to make more effort into headwind than tailwind. This is because the aerodynamic cost increases exponentially with speed. You get more effort for increasing power at lower speeds.
I did a 10 mile TT with a 25mph (40km/h) wind. My time was 20.35. Average power of325 watts.
Recently, I’ve been taking more protein bars for during, and at the end of a training ride. When I first started cycling, I thought it was all about carbohydrates, but protein is just as important.
I’ve been taking more protein bars because:
I like taking food which isn’t all high sugar. This is important for training for long distance riding, improving fat burning energy capacity and not relying on the simple sugars. Then in the race situation, I will take the max Carbohydrate intake, but also will (hopefully) have good capacity to gain energy from the other fat burning source. (Even I have some fat)
Many studies show that a good 20grams of protein after hard exercise aids recovery of the muscles. Tde optimum delivery time is said to be within 30 minutes of the end of the exercise. Therefore, for a long session, it seems to make sense to take some during exercise as well as close to the end.
Also, as a vegetarian it is good to take supplementary protein, in case you don’t get enough from normal diet.
Best Protein bar
Power bar Protein Plus – Low sugar
These were surprisingly tasty and pleasant to eat (due to sweeteners I found out writing this post); they only having 0.8grams of carb which sugars per bar. They have a light fluffy not sweet texture, which are quite enjoyable and easy to eat mid ride. The protein comes from milk and whey protein.
