Looking forward to the 2023 road racing season

Roll on the start of the road racing season, when the peloton once again hits the road.

I penned the following for the Box Hill Association Video celebrating the 2012 London Olympic Road Races which made the Surrey Hills famous. They had asked my why do competitors ride in a big bunch!

The narrator read it like a poem.

The huge mass of riders swept by in a moment, a blur of bodies entwined with bikes in a riot of colour.

The whirr of gears.

 In the wake of the express, dust and paper is set dancing over our heads, the turbulent air whipping the hair across our eyes.

That was the bunch, or peloton - French for platoon - literally a large body of soldiers. In cycle road racing the term peloton describes the epi-centre of the race.

A tail wind will see it bowling along at 30s, a headwind, much slower.

 Team tactics will dictate the pace, set the odds for those weighing up their chances of escape.

But the dynamics are such that a rider must judge his effort to perfection if he or she is to succeed in getting clear.

Why?

Air resistance - the bain of all cyclists’ lives.

It materialises once you top 15mph and only gets worse the faster you go.

An invisible force through which a bunch will punch a bigger hole than a single rider, and move faster as riders at the front relay each other in a constantly moving chain to share this work.

The cagey ones, or the protected team leaders, take shelter in the wheels, saving 20 per cent more energy than those taking the brunt of it.

 The benefit disappears on steep climbs, when the gradient, not air resistance, becomes the problem.

Then the peloton may fragment into smaller groups.

Best place to be is in the first 20, to avoid crashes likely further back in a tightly packed bunch.

You must constantly move up to stand still, so to speak, because others will be striving for that top 20 place, too, moving past, sending you backwards.

The sprinters teams will often drive the peloton at speed, to discourage attacks, to keep the race together, to favour their sprinters.

Others may want to break it up, those who favour contesting the finish from a smaller group.

So within the mass that is the peloton there is a constant state of agitated motion.

If a break does get clear, teams not represented will set  a tempo to keep them in reach.

And gamble on rushing them nearer the finish. However,  teammates of those in the escape will attempt to disrupt the chase, soft pedalling in the line to slow it down.

As the peloton accelerates and is strung into one thin, long, snaking line, riders often struggle to hold the wheel in front.

Lose that wheel and a rider will be gone, blown away “out of the back” as the saying goes, as the peloton speeds on its unrelenting way.

Allez

Bah Humbug - thank God for the bike

 

That’s one of the best parts of the day done with,  an hour’s ride at first light.

Christmas morning is one of the best days of the year for a ride. A stillness in the air, very little sound, just your tyres on the wet road, the gears whirring, your breathing. A few people out, walking the dog, a few other cyclists, runners. Very few motors.

I’m on the winter bike, the steel Condor with mudguards. It gives a more comfortable ride across rough surfaces than my other Condor, all aluminium, a bit lighter, sharper, a delight to ride.

But so is the steel model. It took me to the top of Mount Ventoux once.

I’m on my usual short ride – an hour, sometimes 90 minutes. As a carer I cannot be out for too long.

As for the rest of it, bah humbug to all the ads laying it on thick about happy family gatherings, a real turn off for those lonely people with no one to share.  The commercialism of Christmas now starting four months out has spoilt what should be an occasion to celebrate the end of the dark days of winter and lighter evenings to come.  To renew acquaintances, for those who can. To wish for a good future - which is a bit of laugh, all things considered.

Christmas is  difficult to avoid. Unless you can escape the country, to somewhere not so manic, as many do.

The worst part is losing shopping days over the break and trying to make sure you have enough essential stuff in to cover for the lost days. Staple stuff, like bread, milk, eggs, but also the essential requirements to sustain the vulnerable person in the house.

But we will be looking forward to the roast lamb, roast pots, Brussels sprouts lightly steamed and dipped into a hot pan of butter, chopped garlic and flaked almonds – a quick stir and served.

Cliff Richard is on the tele. We'll avoid that. But we'll watch King Charles, listen to his Christmas message if only to wonder at how this Royal farce continues to hold the nation in thrall.

We'll watch a few comedy progs. But sadly our daughter remains in bed for the umpteenth year, as do millions like her with similar medical complications thanks to a rogue, as yet unidentified gene.

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome; POTS; chronic fatigue; now sensory issues which mean we run a quiet house. No noise, no boisterous visitors. She's very lonely. We'll attend to her throughout the day.

I’ve written about this before, entitled “1000 nights”.

But she will be looking forward to roast potatoes later, with her usual grilled chicken and stir fried veg.

We miss having visitors of course. But not cooking for them. Too confusing, all my timing goes to hell. Serving is a nightmare. Very stressful.

The last time we had people round we bought takeaways.

Only New Year's eve to deal with now!

Cheer up, the days are getting lighter. 

 

 

 

THE MEDAL FACTORY - the cost of British Cycling's and Team Sky's historic sporting success

 

 

OVER two decades ago – last century in fact, a bygone age to some - British Cycling was a little known sports federation with one Olympic gold medal to its name in 80 years, courtesy of Chris Boardman in 1992.

Then along came the Fairy God Mother with Lottery Funding pouring £millions into elite sport.

Fast forward two decades: now its 43 Olympic medals; 6 Tour de France victories, umpteen world records and world titles - an unprecedented feat in the history of sport.

What happened?

This book tells all - a tale of the good, the bad and ugly.

The Medal Factory – British Cycling and the cost of the gold ­– by Kenny Pryde reveals the full story of how British Cycling, Team Sky and INEOS together came to dominate cycle sport.

It was like a dream, wasn’t it?  Those spell binding gold medal raids on the Olympic Games one after another, that historic first Tour victory for a British rider in 2012, courtesy of the Kilburn Kid, Bradley Wiggins. And then came the fall from grace, with talk of Sky straying into the grey area in respect of 

Wiggins being allowed to take a strong medication for an allergy when it may have also enhanced performance.  

The story delves into all this, plus accusations at British Cycling of bullying and sexism.

It paints a picture of how lottery funding and the infamous introduction of “marginal gains” came to drive a phenomenal yet ruthless and ultimately flawed performance culture.

Pryde had set out to write of a “glorious, heroic saga” and found himself trying to balance a tale of supreme performances with uncomfortable and disconcerting truths and mistakes made in the pressure cooker of elite competition.

The cost of gold, indeed.

The Medal Factory

British Cycling and the cost of gold

By Kenny Pryde.

Published in Great Britain in 2020 by

Pursuit Books, an imprint of Profile Books Ltd,

29 Cloth Fair

London EC1A 7JQ.

ISBN 978 1 78125 986 3

 

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FURY AT BRITISH CYCLING SHELL DEAL

Well, o’il be damned if British Cycling ain’t in the news again for all the wrong reasons.

This past decade the historic victories by British riders in the Olympics and Tour de France lost a little of their shine when British Cycling and Team Sky came under scrutiny of WADA and UK Anti-Doping; and then followed accusations of bullying and sexism.  

Now they’re getting it in the neck for agreeing a sponsorship deal with the fourth biggest polluter on the planet, oil company Shell Energy.   

Brings to mind the controversy when petrochemical giant INEOS signed up to sponsor  David Brailsford’s World Tour pro team formerly backed by SKY.

The governing body claim their partnership with Shell will “help our organisation and sport take important steps towards net zero.”

Net Zero being the handy catchphrase meaning zero pollution to stave off the worst of climate change.

What should we make of British Cycling’s decision?

Well, money talks. That’s about it.

They need lots of it to keep their hugely successful organisation and international racing programme on course. Keep the medals coming in even as the science warns of melting ice caps and sea level rise, dying crops in intense summer heatwaves, torrential rain causing flooding and all of it directly linked to global warming caused by burning fossil fuel extracted by oil companies.

To which British Cycling has hitched a ride. Perhaps they are climate change deniers. At least insofar as what has caused it.

Shell is keen to claim their green credentials, as the statement in this ad plucked off the internet shows:

“We are committed to playing our part in meaningful change to the energy system. In the UK, we are contributing to eight of the UK government's 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution. We are also developing nascent businesses, such as CCS and hydrogen, that will need to scale up after 2030 to meet the Climate Change Committee’s sixth Carbon Budget and help the UK towards the government target of reaching net zero by 2050.

“Shell provided input to the Committee for Climate Change’s 2019 report which recommended that net-zero emissions should be achieved in the UK by 2050. The government has subsequently accepted this recommendation, and on June 27, 2019, it became law, making the UK the first G7 country to pass such legislation, marking an important milestone in the global fight against climate change.”

Reach net zero by 2050, say Shell!  Too late for  coastal towns in Lancashire which, coincidentally that very year, are told to expect many residential streets will be under water from rising sea levels.

Critics say  Shell’s deal is “greenwashing”.   By associating with an environmentally-clean (or cleaner) mode of transport, they are saying, look, we are doing our bit to save the planet.

Well, they might be,  but their main business remains unchanged, oil extraction. 

The BC-Shell announcement resulted in a storm of protest on social media, with BC members threatening to resign. Greenpeace  UK Policy Director Dr Doug Parr told The Guardian that the “idea of Shell helping British Cycling reach net zero is as absurd as beef farmers advising lettuce farmers on how to go vegan.”

The Daily Telegraph reported Carr saying that after being booted out of museums and other cultural institutions, “Big Oil is looking at sports as the next frontier for their brazen greenwash. But their aim hasn’t changed – to distract from the inconvenient fact that the fossil fuel industry is making our planet uninhabitable.” 

Friends of the Earth agreed, saying “Cycling is the epitome of environmentally friendly travel…and it is deeply disappointing that UK Cycling (sic) could think it’s appropriate to partner with a fossil fuel giant.”

Shell UK, keen to publicise their “green” shoots, now run the country’s largest public network of electric vehicle (EV) charging points. According to the website Road CC, Shell will also support British Cycling’s aim to move towards a fleet made up entirely of EVs.

Well, that’s good, for global cycling leaves a large carbon footprint from transport and travel in moving their green machines and riders around the world. This needs to be and is being addressed, according to an in-depth look at the problem in a recent issue of Cycling Weekly.

What a dilemma.

But we’re all in this, one way or another, aren’t we? Market forces leave us with little choice when it comes to buying oil-free products.

Clearly there is an urgent need to find an alternative to oil. For our lives are inextricably linked with the evil stuff, not just for powering the vehicles we use, on road, rail and in the air, but in our use of some of the many thousands of products made from by-products of oil.

Here’s a few of them:

Solvents, ink, floor wax, ballpoint pens, upholstery, sweaters, bicycle tyres, nail polish, dresses, tyres, golf bags…..and on and on……………

Who recalls Shell's unique selling proposition?

Here it is - tweaked to suit the moment.

“Keep going well, keep going Shell."

"We're all going to Hell with Shell."

In search of the new transport minister

 So who has Prime Minister Liz Truss appointed as her Secretary of State for Transport? 

With the news dominated by the passing of Queen Elizabeth 2 and more recently by the new PM’s ruinous vision for the UK -  to make us all the poorer, according to many financial experts –  it’s perhaps not so surprising I’ve not see a dicky bird on who the new transport chief is.

Hang on while I leave this page and look it up.

Yes, here we are. The new transport secretary is Anne-Marie Trevelyan, appointed on 6 September 2022.

So, off we go on the merry-go-round once again, to ask if the Trans wizard will do what her predecessor, that shape-shifter Eddy Shapps failed so miserably to do. Not just him but all the gob shites before him over the decades who have refused to take decent money from the obscene multi-billion pound road building budget to make the roads safer for cycling.

She looks a kindly person in the photograph, Ms Trevelyan. No doubt Cycling UK will beat a path to her door as soon as the Conservative Party Shitfest ends in uproar this week. Perhaps there will be a crowd funding appeal to send Truss on NASA’s planned space flight to Mars in 2030. But where to keep her in the meantime?

Cycling UK will I am sure impress upon the new transport boss the age old mantra, please help make the roads safer for cycling - to help save the planet – and inject £7bn into the government’s Active Travel policy.

Although her most pressing need, I guess, will be the current rail strikes crisis.

However, as Minister of State (Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change) until a year ago she will be aware of how cycling can contribute to reducing pollution – if only the roads were not so hostile.

Daresay we will hear soon enough what she has to say.

And I will blog about it, for anyone who is interested. Mostly myself, I imagine.

I mean, I have to say I really only write this stuff to relieve pressure on the brain which, after decades reporting  on cycling campaign issues, is still running at maximum speed and needs an outlet.

It allows me to pretend I am still on the news desk.

No idea who reads this stuff – well, I know a few who do. Sorry about all this.

Cyclists have killed three in past six years

 

This is a correction to the previous blog in which I wrote “to the best of my knowledge” the last cyclist to kill someone was in 2016.

The story commented on how the danger from cyclists had been grossly exaggerated in the right wing press following statements from transport minister Grant Shapps.

That’s not to ignore the flagrant disregard for the safety of others posed by reckless riding, issues which the proposed changes in the law are intended to address.

Roger Geffen, Policy Director of Cycling UK, informs me there have been two other fatalities caused by people riding bikes since the one I referred to, which was in 2016.

The three deaths.-

In February 2016 Charlie Alliston knocked over and killed Kim Briggs as she crossed Old Street in London. His fixed wheel bike had no front brake. 

Briggs, a mother of two, suffered “catastrophic” head injuries and died in hospital a week later.

Alliston was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of causing bodily harm by “wanton and furious driving”, a crime under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

He received an 18-month sentence.

In July 2020, in a hit and run, Ermir Loka, 23, struck Peter McCombie on Bow Road, Tower Hamlets, as he was walking home from work.

Mr McCombie, 72, died eight days later from injuries sustained in the crash.

Loka handed himself into police a little over three weeks later.

He was jailed for two years after being convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court of causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving.

In June 2021, in another hit and run, Stewart McGinn, 29, riding on the pavement and taking a corner at speed, ran head on into Mrs

Elizabeth Stone, 79. She suffered a fatal head injury.  

McGinn pleaded guilty to causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving and was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court. He was jailed for one year.

How Shapps whipped up road rage against cyclists

 

SHAPPS TO BLAME FOR LATEST CONFLICT WITH DRIVERS

 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps could be nominated for this year’s Little Get Award (LGA), unless he’s pipped by another plonker.

“Get” is an impolite expression I first heard in Liverpool.

Someone nicking sweets from the corner shop would have the shop keeper running after them shouting, “Come ‘ere, yer Little Get!”

A Get is someone who buggers up things for others. 

Shapps buggered up cyclists’ reputations when he made two announcements which tarred cyclists as potential killers.

And he did this  via the shit stirring Daily Mail whose readership is highly impressionable, easily annoyed, and many of them swallowed the bait and came out all guns blazing looking for bike riders to shout and spit at.

  On August 6 he talked of plans to bring in a new offence of 'causing death by dangerous cycling', as part of the Transport Bill which he is due to unveil this Autumn.  He said the aim was to "impress on cyclists the real harm they can cause when speed is combined with lack of care”.

There can be no argument against the need for stronger laws to protect people from all dangerous road users, but the Mail piece created the image of potential dangerous cyclists everywhere. To the best of my knowledge the last case of a cyclist who killed  was in 2016 when a woman pedestrian died.  He was jailed 18 months.

To provide some perspective, it is motors which routinely kill, simply because of careless or dangerous driving, and too many drivers are on drugs or influenced by alcohol.

For example, the DfT records reveal that in 2019 there were 230 drink drive deaths.

In my own experience I more recently have encountered more considerate drivers who make space to allow me to pass down the inside of a queue,  for example, or holding back to allow me out of a junction. I always acknowledge them.

But then I live in a small country town, not in a city with roads jammed with traffic, where most angry exchanges occur.

The second Shapps story (August 16) was the subject of my previous blog and called for cyclists to have mandatory insurance, registration and for all cycles to carry number plates.

This idea has been floated before and dismissed by the Department for Transport because it would a bureaucratic nightmare to organise and anyway, unnecessary because so few cyclists cause accidents.

Again, cyclists come across as the bad guys.

Our image has been tainted of course by the dickheads who ride through red lights, on pavements and who upset horses. I can fully understand how that irritates everyone.

It does me.

Now Shapps purports to support his government’s own Active Travel Policy to increase numbers of cyclists by making the roads safer, albeit with not nearly enough funding.

So in making his statements to the right wing Daily Mail’s 5-million readership is this  Shapps rowing back on supporting cycling for fear of upsetting motoring voter? Probably.

What happened next was predictable.  The Mail articles stirred up their cloned readership who took to the roads in their motors shouting abuse to pedallers they encountered.

Guardian writer and cyclist Helen Pidd was one of those so insulted and she was moved to write about her experiences, telling how drivers began hurling insults at her, shaking rolled up copies of the Mail at her.

Spat at, abused and run off the road: why do some people hate cyclists so much? Ran the headline to her piece.

 

“Bike riders have always faced aggression from car drivers. But they now find themselves on the latest front in the culture wars – with anger whipped up by the right-wing press,” she wrote.

It was followed a few days later by almost a page of readers’ letters sharing their experiences, including drivers who admitted why they hated cyclists.

What’s up with these people?

Shapps surely engineered this deliberately.

Well, Mr Shapps, what can we say, except perhaps to thank you for being such a wonderful transport secretary, fantastic. Keep on being absolutely splendid.

And finally - HEADLINE OF THE WEEK:

From The New European - on the end of an era:

“FAREWELL BORIS JOHNSON,

AND THANKS FOR FUCK ALL.”

In the shop where I bought the paper they were so offended by those words they partially placed the bar code over them.