You couldn't write this shit!

Well where the hell to start? I suppose rather fittingly i should start with Marco Pantani, the late great 'Il Pirata' was the first cycling superstar i remember, being slightly too young to be aware of Miguel Indurains efforts in the early 90's, in fact it would not be wrong for me to say that if it wasn't for 'Il Pirata' i wouldn't ride a bike at all. Watching his scintillating attacks in the mountains on his way to the 1998 Tour de France as a young boy i was memorised, the speed, the colour the panache the pain etched across the riders faces as this little Italian wiped the floor with them had me hooked, little did i know and the time that this wonderfully colourful and extravagant sport had such a dark underbelly.

Fast forward to 2010 and after watching the Tour de France for numerous years and finally getting my leg over a top tube for the first time 5 years ago i am finally a half decent bike rider myself, with a height of 5ft8 and a racing weight of 57kg comparisons could easily be drawn to the diminutive stature of Il Pirata himself. Unfortunately Marco's future, which must have looked oh so bright in Paris at the end of the 1998 Tour faded away, until on the 14th Feburary 2004 he was found dead in his hotel room alone from a cocaine overdose a victim of the system this beautiful sport of ours produced in which you have to give your all and sometimes end up giving too much...he never failed a dope test.

Now there is a new Pantani in the world of cycling, Ricardo Ricco, unlike his hero Ricco has already failed a drugs test for CERA and almost completed his 20 month suspension which rather fortunately for him finishes the day before this Milan San Remo arguably the greatest one day race in the World which could see him lining up with his new best mate Mark Cavendish who recently described Ricco 'a parasite coming back', now then nobody can deny the damage Ricco has done to the sport but come on Mark describing Ricco as a 'parasite' when your own mentor confessed to using epo before the 1996 claiming to have only used it for a week as the effects were too great for him to handle is a bit rich! It will be interesting to see how this latest spat in the world of pro cycling develops over the coming season, comparisons could be drawn with the relationship between Il Pirata and Armstrong after Pantani put him away up Mont Ventoux in the 2000 Tour...namely they hated each other.

I took this photo after the 2008 Tour stage which finished in St Brieuc Brittany a few weeks later the Tour was blown apart for the second year in a row and not due to what was happening on the road, i've always wondered what was in that bag!

But Ricco's problems do not stop at having the stroppy Manx man first in the queue to give him a kicking, oh no as if Ricco's own doping story could not have been enough on the eve of his comeback to professional racing his long term girlfriend and mother of their child herself tested positive for CERA. Instead of Ricco coming out to defend his partner she is his partner no more unless the doping charges against her are dismissed, a nice touch after she has stood by him for the last 2 years since his positive at the 2008 Tour. Lets just hope we do not have another Pantani on our hands.

If the Ricco merry go round isn't enough, Schumacher is still trying to get his doping charges dropped against him, despite testing positive during both the 2008 Tour and 2008 Olympics, Di Luca has finally been caught and handed a lengthy suspension, Valverde cannot even enter Italy for risk of imprisonment a sanction which still maybe extended to world wide competition but which has not stopped him racing in the early season, Boonen seems to have stopped powdering his nose for now, but the coup de grace has to be the announcement today (15/02/2010) that the French courts have issued an international arrest warrant for Floyd Landis, yeah remember that piss taker, after his coach allegedy hacked the accounts of the anti-doping lab used in his case and changed some of the data stored.

What does the future hold for Valverde? Another period in yellow or a prolongued rest period?

Yet despite all this the sport lives on and it always will, the panache, the verve, the speed and the colour i witnessed during that 1998 Tour will always be there as will the pain etched on the faces of the defeated and in some cases of the victors, no amount of bad press can ruin it for me because this is our sport, it's our passion and our lives and i love it.

Thanks Prendas

I am not going to lie, this post is a blatant plug for one of the ‘unsung heroes’, if a company can be called such a thing of the UK cycling scene. It was a while before Christmas when I decided to see if someone other than my parents could help support me in my up and coming season abroad, many an email was sent, not many were replied to and even fewer offered support. However, Andy Storey of Prendas was one of the few people I managed to get on my side and agreed to help me out.

Fast forward until about half way through last week and I am opening a box of goodies from them, including numerous pairs of their legendary socks, for those in the know Prendas socks are one of the few pairs around that fore fill the official height requirements set out in the Euro code for cyclists, the amount of pairs of these socks I have got through in my riding career is unimaginable. However amongst the arm warmers, socks, oversocks and track mitts I also found 2 items I didn’t order, namely a pair of Prendas ‘Super Roubaix Gloves’ and a pair of Prendas ‘Windtex Gloves’. Why are you telling me this you may ask, well because they are good and I mean really good. I think I have done 4 winters now in the UK, or maybe 5 the years run into each other for me just like the miles god knows what I will be like by 30, and up until last Saturday when I put these on in tandem I have not previously found a glove wearing approach as good as putting the ‘Roubaixs’ on under the ‘Windtex Gloves’.

Previously I have tried everything and I mean everything, one set of DeFeet Dura Gloves, under a pair of ‘Windstoppers’, two pairs of DeFeet gloves under a pair of ‘Windstoppers’, at some points I have even go out with a pair of the rubber gloves doctors use under the DeFeet gloves under the ‘Windstoppers’ and still in the depths of winter my hands would loose feeling. Infact it got to the point this winter, where myself and my riding mates began joking about the fact that these supposed ‘Winderstopper’ materials should really be called ‘Breeze Stoppers’.

So Saturday came around and I thought I’d crack the new toys from Prendas out, after all they couldn’t be any worse than anything else I have worn to try and keep my hands warm. It soon became apparent though that these gloves were good, or as I said before really good imagine my joy as I returned home on Saturday able to change gear and feel my brakes all when the temperature hadn’t risen above 2 degrees all day. I actually could not recommend these gloves enough to anyone other than the fair weather cyclists out there, they are mega.

So thanks Prendas, for the stuff which will keep me looking sweet in the season, and also for the gloves that will keep my hands toasty in the last few weeks in the UK.

For anyone wishing to get some Prendas kit, click on the icon on the page and it should take you straight to the main site.

'I hope you have taken your druggies'

Quite a confusing title for a blog post i think you will agree, but think how confusing it seemed whilst riding up a hill in north Staffordshire this morning with the 'group', 15 had already become 3 by this point, and being shouted this at you by a runner coming the other way. I like the two guys i was with, Mikey C of the new Raleigh Team and Mark Lovatt, ironically in his old GB Kit, were absolutely baffled by the comment. I'd still be intrigued as to know what the guy meant as ironically the 1500m Olympic Champion was stripped of his gold medal after later testing positive for the most famous of all EPO types CERA which following this mans logic i should be painting ever runner with the same brush. More importantly cycling, whilst apparently having a lot of cheats if the recent doping relevations and positives is anything to go by, seems to be one of the few sports out there that seems to be cleaning its act up. Footballers, for example, do not even have to be signed up to the whereabouts system only running the risk of dope tests at games...mental! Anyway before this turns into a total rant which no doubt will appear on one of my blogs as no doubt some other high profile rider with test positive this season i best tell you what i have been up to.

This week i have managed to amass a total of 20hrs on the bike whilst starting to put some efforts into my rides, not bad considering the weather here has ranged from grim to grimer, this wasn't helped by emails from my teammate Phil who is in Gran Canaria at the moment living it up at 25 plus degrees. Although riding in this weather can be depressing as long as it isn't totally chucking it down when i leave the house the hardest yards are always the first and as soon as i have left the town i soon remeber how much i enjoy being out and riding a normal life just isn't for me!

In addition to being able to train on the road again the most significant thing going on this week is the Tour Down Under, after a long winter break bike racing is back on tv, improving motivation immediately and giving me something to slob out to when i get back from training rides. It has been great to see the Sky boys riding and even more impressive to see how well Russel Downing seems to be coping with it all, although his chance in life has come late he seems to be seizing it with both hands, and was showing everyone how to corner at the Cancer Criterium during the early stages of the Sky leadout.

Other than that there is not much to report other than i have another 2 weeks of work to do, totalling 6 shifts after which i will be getting ready for the off in the middle of Feb...can't wait!

Winter Blues

Well it has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened...i think. Firstly i had the madness known as Christmas to get through, and when you are working at a supermarket madness is the only word to describe it, during this period i also had my first experience of working nightshifts which i entered with the very naive view of thinking that this would be a good idea as i would be being paid more and could train a lot, in reality i ended up feeling like a zombie for 2 and a half weeks, slept through most of Christmas day and was in bed by 10:30pm on New Years Eve having felt like i had lost the previous 2.5 weeks of my life! On the plus side i managed to set myself a personal best of hours without sleep of 31 but i would much rather have swapped that for having a life.

I did however manage to ride for an hour everyday on the turbo when i got back in from my night shifts, before collapsing in bed for 7hrs before the next shift, i really do not know how people cope doing nightshifts long term, i guess they don't ride a bike for starters.

Thankfully my last nightshift finished the day before New Years eve and i am now back on to the day shift for a few more weeks. Although the anticipation of being able to ride my bike and get some decent miles in seemed doomed to failure as i only managed 3 days of plus 4hr rides before the most recent spell of bad weather hit and the roads became unridable, including the main roads. Which led to me spending 14hrs on the turbo last week, which if i am honest has done me no good at all, as i am writting this now with a massive headcold and sore throat, which i am pretty sure has been brought about from riding hard on the turbo in my garage, which isn't much warmer than outside. To the point at which if i did more than 2hrs on there, and yes i have done and will do again if i have to, my bottles froze, not cool, i was even forced to wear long fingered gloves one day...madness.

So i am now having a few days off before hitting the training hard as it looks like the temperatures will be up by the weekend, well positive at least!

Take it easy

Get Well Soon Steve!

Well it has finally happened i guess, after years both as an individual and as part of a group last Sunday i finally witnessed my first serious 'non racing' accident.

Unfortunately whilst on a group ride, in extremely cold conditions we hit a patch of ice, with one of the lads going down, taking everyone behind him down with him. As everyone bounced back up and was checking their bikes it soon became apparent we had a 'man down' situation. Steve had gone down hard on his back and was struggling to get up, luckily a local lady witnessed the accident and offered her help to which the quick witted response soon came of '5 teas please,' how ignorant we were. Steve was soon slipping into shock due to the cold conditions and it was decided an Ambulance was required as well as gettin him into the warmth asap, as this was called 2 of the bigger lads, at 58kg i'm not lifting anyone anywhere, managed to get Steve into the warmth of this kind womans house.

We soon continued our ride vowing to stay on main roads only, Steve however had a more interesting afternoon, with a trip to Chester hostpital and the diagnosis of a cracked vertebrae he is now in a back brace for 8 weeks!

Now although after the accident we all agreed it was no ones fault, in reality it was all our fault for being ignorant cyclists who weren't prepared to alter the route according to the conditions, probably due to the fact we had got away with it for years before. It was a hard lesson learned, especially for myself as it would have been a season destroying crash at a minimum. Needless to say i have spent the majority of this week on the turbo and am planning on a quick spin on the mtb tomorrow if the conditions improve.

So please don't be ignorant and play it safe out there, oh and get well soon Steve!

'Shall we go for a long one?'

Well seen as this blog is supposed to be about bike riding or at least being a bike rider, i thought i would fill you in on a 'little ride' me and my training buddy Mikey Cumings went on a couple of weeks ago.

When i say little i really mean big, hard and angry. As i left my house to meet Mikey at our usual meeting place, which shall remain secret to all but a chosen few, i thought i would be home within 4hrs, maybe 4.5 if we got a cheeky cafe stop in, it being winter and all that, but when we met and Mikey uttered those memorable words 'shall we go for a long one' i stupidly agreed.

What followed can only be described as an epic 6hrs of pain and in some instances, and one in particular, amusement. Now for the un-educated riders amongst you, going on a long one generally means a big ride for which the golden rule is to ride out into the wind and back with it on your back, which for us normally means a jolly into North Wales due to the prevailing winds, which were in effect on this fine day. Me and Mike being 'men', well we decided to hit the hills, not West of us like Wales, but East.

To begin with, i think both of us were enjoying ourselves as we climbed out of Macclesfield across to Wailey Bridge in the sun i remebered how much i liked riding in the hills, with a following wind we were soon at the top of the Snake and much to my amusement as i stopped to take a photo Mike almost got blown off, but little did i know he would have the last laugh a few climbs latter!


Mike at the top of the Snake

Wind ah yes the unecessary evil of all bike riders and this day it was STRONG! We soon dropped down off the Snake across to Curbar through Castleton and began climbing Winnats pass. Initally the climb went well for the first 150m after the cattle grid (for those in the know) the steep sides protected us from the wind and we could actually hold a conversation for the first time since the Snake, however as the road curved to the right we hit it, the steep sides acting as a funnel. Mike decided to get out of the saddle and power up the climb whilst i decided to stay seated and try and do some leg strength work, this approach was to be my downfall, with one sudden gust of wind from the side the bars were blown out of my hand and i was on my arse! If this wasn't bad enough, for those that have ridden up Winnats it is dam steep and getting started again in that wind was not easy at all, luckily i pulled the manouever off first time, only to get to the top to see Mike laughing at me, at least he didn't drop me hey!

After Winnats it just became a slog fest into the wind down to Buxton, where we saw Ian Stannard, looking just as pissed off with the wind as us, a quick 'cafe stop' in a petrol station back over the Cat and through the lanes home, 6hrs in and deaf from the wind. As you can imagine in the sick way only bike riders do after such a hard effort i arrived home with a massive grin on my face.

What a Cafufal

So there i was on Sunday night, relaxing after a 5hr ride with the lads, when i got a phone call from Steven, the night before UCB had released a press report stating i was riding for them, i was totally oblivious to this and needless to say i had all sorts of people enquiring about what was going on. Eventually i managed to sort everything out and i can re-confirm my old post that i am indeed riding for Hennebont and not UCB!

On a totally different note i had my yearly asthma review, a condition which i have suffered from since childhood, on Tuesday which i obviously passed with flying colours...i mean how unfit do you have to be to get breathless walking up a set of stairs!

Oh and i am still in need of a bike for next season, so if anyone out there can either do me a deal, or lend me one for the season which i will obviously return upon pain of death in September then please let me know.

Ciao