Just because...day = night

The 'just because....' series tend to be pics and nothing more than a caption. And, we can't forget Routemaster General's French take from a few months back.

Yesterday was the first time out on the bike since the Graeme Obree sportive. A single speed 29er isn't the best option for weak legs and lungs, but the conditions where great and I can only go as fast as a 32x20 will allow on the flat stuff - there wasn't much flat stuff.

The day provided ample opportunities to experience the sheer amount of water that has recently fallen out of the sky and a tree felling operation of a huge scale around Mugdock and the West Highland way does beg the question - will the cleared sections of woodland ever recover, or will they become yet another area of tree stumps and bog? 

what's the name of that Orb song?

So, as night equals day, the dark hours where spent enjoying an Arran non chilled filtered 10yr old malt. A delightful flavorsome (almost toffee) malt that is a pleasant as the isle it came from. Cyclesguff are planning a wee trip to Arran and possibly Islay very soon....the nights are drawing in.

Stay upright

Delica Daze

One of the most amusing tweets from this year’s tour was from David Millar:

Swept opening my curtains to find beautiful blue sky, and... The Deathstar. 

The days of pro-riders driving to races by their own means are well and truly over.  The tales recounted in Slayer the badger and Put me back on my bike offered an insight to the welcome escape from the peleton (and even team mates). The untimely death of Tom Simpson in 1967 resulted in him never collecting his Mercedez Benz 300sl Gullwing that was ordered just beofre the tour. There isn’t much room in that car, and how on earth he could fit a bike rack with gullwing doors is beyond me.  
  

I recently had the privilege of giving Graeme Obree a lift. Now, this may be a slight aberration for the Flying Scotman, after all the bicycle is his most frequent mode of travel. The reason was a request to help with transporting ‘the beastie’ for an initial speed run – more on that another day. One thing we did speak about during the short journey was kids and bikes, Graeme summed it up perfectly ‘kids and bikes are like fish’n’chips’.    
 

For me, putting bikes in a car/van etc paves the way for memories of adventures and hopefully new ones to recount. Ah, the onset of road trip fever. Some of the best road trips and memories where spent traveling across the UK and France. The vehicle of choice was owned by riding buddy and great friend, David. Other than his bikes, it was his pride and joy. The vehicle was a first series Mitsubushi Delica (aka Japanese passion wagon) or simply referred to as the van. We would push the van to ramming speed on long descents and David would cook its brakes chasing me and other Raid Pyrenean riders on the Col de Tourmalet descent to Sante Marie du Campan. The brakes were never quite the same and there was still a few days left of the raid and a trip to the French Alps via Mt Ventoux to contend with! As the support vehicle for the Raid Pyrenean it was a welcome sight parked up on a Col.   
   

who needs ac...

The huge tailgate would be open to provide shade and access to supplies of food and cool drinks. Tunes would normally be blasting out and on the dashboard, the bobbing Mr T would be keeping to the beat.  
 

You climbed what!? Yo crazie fool!

 

Morzine has been the mtb destination for the past five years and the van always cut the cloth in the town. Riders and locals would stop for a chat, it was the vehicle equivalent of a puppy. Maxine, the friendly owner of the Les Marmottes campsite would welcome us back in the summer and ‘Camp David’ would be erected. The van was a always a welcome sight after a day in the mountains and a few Mutzigs in Bar Robinson. The bbq would be lit, and with coolbox fan purring away in the background as a gentle reminder that the van’s battery had kept the beer cool. A perfect setting to kick back and reflect on a day in the mountains.  

David hit upon a major spot of bad luck in France during this summer's trip. The result, the van has been left to be crushed! I was gutted when he told me the news. Thankfully, David and the rest of the crew are all fine. As for the van, it will be replaced, but never forgotten. At least we the have memories of shredding the rad through the Alps, windows down and Booker T and the MGs drowning out the cowbells. 
  

This isn’t exactly a fitting end to this post, but this classic phrase from the ace BBC comedy - Still Game, always reminds me of the van and trips to Morzine   
   

‘Feel the burn Boaby, Feel the buuurrrn’  
 

The crazy Frenchies in a hot hatch pulling over and getting well out of the way of J189 NPR on it’s mission not to change down from 4^th to 3^rd certainly did.

The Obree way

Not exactly a sportive geometry

A few weeks back, cyclesguff mentioned the kind invite to take part in the Graeme Obree Sportive. The invite came from none other than the man himself. The reason for the invite was down to the this guffer's involvement with 'the beastie'. Graham has been working with staff and students of Product Design Engineering (PDE) programme at the Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow. There is an additional and historical element to this collaboration. Graeme started studying PDE, in his own words 'for a matter of weeks'. Thankfully, the result of that early departure from his studies has resulted in one of the most inspiring and challenging stories. 

Whether you ride a bike or not, working with Graeme is an experience! The energy gained from his work ethic and approach is addictive. The next few weeks will see even more development and tweaking as the time to roll out 'the beastie' for the record attempt approaches. The excellent site humans invent has more details of development and the Obree way, so please point the cursor in that direction for more info.

Nick O Balloch

A post about the Graeme Obree sportive is well overdue.....the event takes place late July! Four guffers made the journey down to Ayrshire. The chat in the car centred around lack of time on the bike and what to wear. In other words, we where anxious. And as it turned out, the good old inclement Scottish weather decided to come along and keep us company on the ride. Charlie Milarvie (Maximise Sport and Graeme's agent) had mentioned that the 68.5mile route would feel more like 100. The 'heavy' undulating roads (over 1,100metres of climbing) and Nick O The Balloch climb around the 40 mile mark being the main test. The guffers only managed 2 miles before the first test. A mangled rear mech, and no means of repair forced Pete to abandon. We left with the first bunch and just had to watch them disappear as a dejected Pete walked like a duck back to the event start at Auchincruive. The remaining three tried to keep together, but a fluctuating pace saw a few smaller groups form from the second wave to depart. The guffers had the chance to regroup after the magic descent to Straiton Thankfully, the descent was the only major section of dry road we experienced.  After a short stop for water and grub the heavens opened and it was truly biblical. The last few miles saw the sun break through and warm our damp bodies as we confronted the last few ramps on the run back to the start.

 

The combination of quiet roads taking in some stunning views of the moorlands high above Ayrshire, fantastic marshaling, support of South Ayrshire Council and police stopping traffic at junctions created an atmosphere not too disimilar to a closed road event. The success of the event is a credit to the organisers and the following that Graeme has. It's also generating funds for the fantastic charity Combat Stress. The other draw was the number of riders. Smaller sizes (in my experience) results in groups willing to work and make the most of the day, this is something that mass start events, such as the Etapé Caledonia struggles with.

If you have ever considered riding the roads that Graeme trains on, stop considering and sign up for 2013.

Stay upright 

haste ye back

as we may have mentioned a couple of times cyclesguff manage to get about a bit and some manage more than others. So it is that one of our number, Lindsay, is taking himself and family off to Toronto tomorrow. Knowing his eye for detail we at cyclesguff are sure that he has sorted out everything that he needs to for the year long sojourn. Bike, check, kit, check, shoes, check, helmet, check...
One last item to tick off on what was no doubt a very long list was of course a wee trip round the back yard just to remind him what he will be missing in the flat lands of Toronto, Canada.

We set off out and round to Torrance on Tuesday and as you can see we were accompanied by something of a glowering sky. The quiet roads make this a bit of a guff favorite route either as a step to a longer trip or as a fine run in itself.  The shorter ride is a perfect 'squeezed for time quick run out of a morning run' and despite it's brevity the trip proved to be a veritable cornucopia of all things Scottish. Hills, views, sunshine, clouds and a deluge of rain. Though it was a special treat and on reflection, not especially Scottish warm rain. Having neglected to pack the kayak, I mean honestly!, it made for a challenging return back to the city but one that had us smiling all the way home. Have a great time Lindsay and haste ye back.

sounds of silence

There has been an element of silence on the cyclesguff blog of late. The guffers have been traveling, and in some cases – relocating. Fellow guffer and author of the excellent Oblique intention is off to Toronto with his family for a sabbatical, not a bad place to spend a year. Prior to departure, the cyclesguff bunch enjoyed a fitting 'last' ride of the year. The invite to ride the fabulous Graeme Obree sportive came from none other than the Flying Scotsman himself, this made the event even more special. There are a few posts in the draft stages that include: The Graeme Obree sportive; how it came about and an ode to a sadly departed vehicle.

Shenzhen pavé

This guffer has spent the last 3 weeks working in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. My last time in Shenzhen was 2007 and it’s hard to describe how the city has changed. My first experience was the size of the place and the sheer number of building sites, my second experience is the size of place and the sheer number of building sites! How can a city grow at such an astonishing rate and just how sustainable is this progress? It’s daunting when you consider the resource, energy and manpower required to keep the place going, never mind what was required to build it, or for that matter - keep it growing! One small observation and rest bite from the progress is that the bicycle still rules of the road. Traders with cargos that would make the western cyclist weep can frequently be seen on the super highways cycling towards oncoming traffic - the Police don’t bother. As darkness ascends, the bikes become the creatures of the night, meandering around with out lights and continuing with their complete disregard of any traffic laws. When I say cycling, that isn’t particularly true. You see, most of the bikes are now electrically powered with lovely little hub motors that hurtle them along at Wiggins pace.

Mobile kitchen - even when traveling, the gas ring remains on

Other than the drivetrain 'progress', there are still a few bicycle related observations from the first visit that remain. Most cyclist ride with their saddles far too low; this is possibly due to the bike being shared amongst many. However, it does get the job done, even if the knees are bent out and up around the ears. The other is the humble side stand (and a number of alternatives), this is an often ridiculed piece of kit by the road brigade. Why have a stand when we can happily rest our fizik gel tape wrapped bars and kangaroo hide upholstered saddle against a rough cast wall, only to return and cry at the sight of a rip or a scrape. Those that commute and deliver by bike know better, use a stand! The botch repair is another ace aspect; bamboo splints instead of steel stands and copious amounts of packing tape used for frame repairs are very common. Unserviced bikes with rusty chains can be heard from afar and the mobile bike repairer with his box of trusty tools, spare parts and of course, tape is always close by.  How he will fare with the electronic stealth killers is another matter. The problem with electric bikes is the silence, his repair 'radar' will no doubt change as much as the tools in the toolbox.

The parasol was that faded

The bike below had just been parked up and battery removed for charging. It was used to haul 4 full ‘water at work bottles’. A rough estimate of the all up weight (inc. rider) was 160kg. The bike was easily travelling at 20mph/32kph and the only noise was the water sloshing about. I had an image of a flash flood washing the street, it was only when I was confronted by an irate delivery guy going about his business and having to swerve to avoid me that I came to my senses.

Another hyper-domestique going about his business

Will bikes still rule the road when I next return to Shenzhen? Who knows, but one thing is for sure, the electric bike/trike makes riding in the blistering summer heat a little bit easier, but the trade off is the huge increase in the amount energy required - it must be a Shenzhen thing....

Stay upright

it's the Tour...

the Tour cast it's magic spell again this year. With extra added spice that British riders made the podium and collected a wheen of stage wins. Let's not narrow our focus too much since there are just so many great bike riders out there. The Tour is too large to take in all of it at one sitting. Indeed even though we gorged ourselves on all things bike at the final iTT and final depart from Rambouilllet it still meant that we only just scratched the surface. The riders whizzed past at speed on the time trial but we were secure in the knowledge that there was another coming along soon. Drama too when we saw Richie Porte catch his 2 and 4 minute men at the same time and Tejay Vangarderen over take Cadel Evans. We were relying on our own watches to judge who was going fastest and it did prove pretty reliable. It was odd then to have to text home to find out for certain who had won. The depart was a much more relaxed affair with time to appreciate bikes, equipment and the effort riders had made to get to Paris. We could see the helicopter hovering over the peleton as we made our way round the peripherique yet it still took a long time to find out that Cavendish had taken his fourth win on the Champs Elysee. It felt like a long time to just keep hoping but sometimes...

UCI to rule on aero profile

david millar

andre griepel

vincenzo nibali

thomas voekler and higgs bosen

no tour complete without a smile from jens

just pecqueuse

For all the modernising and professionalisation of the Pro Peleton road cycling remains a relatively accessible sport. I have been on holiday in north of Spain where people took bus trips to Barcelona just to see the hallowed turf of the Nou Camp. That is as close as it gets. Similarly golf fans rarely if ever get a chance to play on the championship courses and even then at some expense. A similar story can be told of cricket too I've heard.

Though the start and bus areas may be invite only at the Tour we stand at the roadside and our heroes duly ride by. And the course is open to us every other day of the year. In the final stage this year there was a wee bit of spice with two cat 4 climbs of Cote de Saint Remy les Chevreuse and Cote de Chateaufort. Nothing to get distressed about for the pros but maybe enough effort required to suspend frivolities and apply both hands to the bars. Staying close to Village Depart of Rambouillet it seemed only right to take in a few kilometres of the etape just to see what they looked like.

simplement parce que

A few others had the same idea and a number of nods of recognition were exchanged. This Tour has had only two riders wear the yellow jersey and both are time trial specialists. Bradley Wiggins has acknowledged Miguel Indurain as his Tour hero and he too was able to make large gains in time trials and defend them in the mountains. It is customary now to suggest that Big Mig could not climb but this misses the point since he so clearly could climb but had no need to attack to gain any more time. It is also fitting that at the top of Cote de Chateaufort is a monument to Jaques Anquetil another man who could make great gains in the time trial and defend in the mountains. Having seen what was there it seemed a fitting point to turn and try the climbs from the other side for no other reason than I could.
 

stele Jacques Anquetil