A view from below

Bloody Ech Stephen your studs are a bit worn !!!!!

Are we getting there

I must have been asked a thousand times over the years about doping in cycling. We seem to have turned a corner these last 2/3 years. The times have changed and the old ways seem to be a thing of the past. We will never eradicate fully the problem of doping.

We are having a fantastic Olympics and the Tour was just something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

The new era has arrived and we have many to thank for that. 

Cycling is becoming popular again and a new interest has developed with the success that we have had. Lets hope it continues and more people will get on their bikes.

Bradley Wiggins summed it up  
Anyone can get on a bike.

My advice to anyone that has just got a bike is to not try and break records. Just pedal and do a few miles. It takes time for your fitness to come and more importantly it takes a while for your backside to get use to sitting on a saddle for long periods of time. Take plenty of breaks and maybe a Cafe stop or two. Get some good quality clothing and cycling shoes and go from there.
If you have yet to purchase a bike. Pleeease Pleeease Pleeease get the correct size. This is paramount.
So many new riders get a bike that is too big for them. It is now much easier to get sized correctly. It can cost initially but is worth it.
Like doping, bike fitting using the old black art way is a thing of the past unless you get fitted by someone who actually knows what they are doing.
So all you need then is a milkshake in your bidon and your away. 

Cracken Edge Fell Race

Hayfield hosts many fell races and the Cracken Edge race is one of them. Now run by the Kinder Mountain Rescue guys. They are the people that will save your life if your in bother in a remote place. So donate a few quid each year.

The fell race is a pretty good route. A tough long climb that has boggy parts and is pretty technical on the descents. Only a small section of road in the 7odd miles. I am told about 1400ft of climbing.

By the time you head back up to Big Stone on the return journey your legs are screaming and you just want the finish to come quickly. It does and your soon in the finish field fighting off the biggest flies that the world has ever seen.

Pennine had a good turnout and I am sure we won the team prize but I could not hang around so had to come away early. We had the first lady with Steph Curtis and there was some pretty notable performances from our lot and we even had Dave Ward take part after doing his Paddy Buckley round a couple of days before. Some new club members were present as well which was good. Strange though I now start to feel old as I line up to race.

About 140 lined up which is a good turnout for a midweek race.

Good support on route from Andy Howie at Big Stone.

I managed 4th place after an epic battle with Stephen Pike of Staffs Moorlands AC.

 Winding gear at the Quarries

Signs to the summits

Technically Not signs to the summits but to the Col's

For those who have not ridden any of the climbs of the Tour. You get a little reminder every kilometre of what is still to come.

The Tour

Not sure how I managed it but I did go to the Tour. As soon as It was looking like we could have a winner it seemed right to go.
I only really managed one decent picture of Wiggins which was here on the Mur De Peguere
He came over the top leading the bunch and I was jumping around I nearly fell down the bank behind me.
This was the stage where he waited for Cadel after the tacks got threw on the road. I had ridden about 50 miles of the stage before I arrived on the climb and it was bedlem. I was getting cheers, screams, allez allez allez all the way up to the top and even the Gendarme brigade on the summit clapped as you arrived. There were thousands of people up there.
Twenty minutes after the riders had gone through I plummeted down the descent back to Foix at breakneck speed with a load of French club riders. It was Chaos in Foix as it was in most of the places I went.
But just to say I was there.
Magic.
I will post more pictures when I get time.

Freddy

This man above is probably responsible more than anyone for my obsession with professional bike racing. Freddy Maertens was the real deal when I was growing up. I finally met him on a detour to the Tour Of Flanders museum in Oudenaarde. He was a brilliantly gifted rider. He could sprint as fast as anyone. He nurtured Sean Kelly in his early years and won a lot of races. He fell on hard times after he finished racing but in the late seventies and early eighties he was the man.
He rode for Flandria which after Raleigh was my favourite team. You never got much information at that time but odd snippets came through. I remember reading about him when I first got my Raleigh racing bike. I polished it most days and pretended I was a racer.
Freddy was in the museum and casually told me he won the World Championship twice.
Of course I already knew that and responded by telling him that he was as quick as Mark Cavendish. He replied "We will never know eh".
The museum is a nice place to visit and I have wanted to go there for years. I might even go back and do the Tour Of Flanders route.

The first time I ever heard of him was when he won all those stages in the Tour De France. I even had to look it up.
1976
Eight ( YES ) Eight stage wins.
Embroiled in controversy from the early years until he retired. That was and still is Freddy.
Even Kelly admitted he was the fastest man he ever raced with.

Chaperone

 Mark Cavendish has a bit of a reputation for not being able to climb the high mountains which in my eyes is total rubbish. He is actually a pretty good climber. As he came over the Tourmalet he looked pretty impressive. Mr Eisel may have helped him a bit but to be fair he was climbing well. Maybe not the standard of a true climber but definitely able to hold his own further down the peloton.

I did offer to throw water over him but he declined.