wiggly worms

if you look closely....

There's a childhood joy of being head to toe in mud, and for those of us that had the delight of growing up with a sister, worms just added to the fun! I'm sure many of us have chased screaming siblings around as they attempted to escape from a brother who had his hands full of muddy, slippery, wiggly worms - good times.

Recently, cyclesguff has been spending a lot of time in mud. The Scottish Cyclocross season is under way. So far, the conditions under tyre have been wet, gloopy, slippy and sticky. The blue skies above have helped to quickly dry out the mudpack on legs, arms, face etc just in time to shake it all off before heading home. The two event courses to date have been very different with today's Auchentoshan race (sadly no whisky) being an absolute blast. Today was quite possibly one of the most challenging hours I have spent trying to stay on the bike in recent years. The course had it's fair share of interesting sections, the kind of places where dog owners loose their pooches. The advice of; sit back, loosen the grip and hold on was well received, but you could just tell that the crowd was baiting for mud and blood. Talking of crowds, the numbers were down on last week and the encouragement as riders clambered up the various 'walls' could have been better - come on, cheer us on!

Last week's event benefitted from a wonderful weekend of sun and families making the most of Callendar Park in Falkirk. The course was less technical and almost encouraged riders along as they flowed through sections and could even catch breath on a gentle descent of blaze. 

In starck contrast to today's brutality, the meandering course allowed riders to dismount at will and steep sections and ramps could be ridden with gusto. Whether this was strategic decision at the hands of the series organisers remains to be seen - give those new to the sport a 'gentle' taste of mud and they'll be back. 

I thought only dogs did that...

The starting field at all levels is impressive. What isn't quite so impressive is the feeling when you are catching someone, only to realise that they are going slower due to a mechanical. This is obviously a feature of cross, but for me, it doesn't tick the same box as catching someone on a climb. That subtle feeling of reeling in the red rag at cross is an entirely different beast. It's fair to say that I didn't catch that many people, so the feeling may change, then again, so had my fitness levels.

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Park Life

football pitches get everywhere

With all the news surrounding the opening of the fabulous Sir Chris Hoy velodrome, tickets selling out in minutes and the teasing list of riders turning up for the Thunderdrome on the 27th October, the news regarding the refurbished 400m (402m to be exact) velodrome in Caird Park, Dundee could easily be overlooked. Credit is due to all who had the persistence, passion and commitment to see this through.

http://www.braveheartfund.co.uk/ArticleView.asp?id=15106

It also happens to be the place where Sir Chris Hoy won his first Scottish Scratch Race Championship title.

I have many fond memories of frenetic schoolboy and junior races being held there. The events also commanded good crowds and a lost dog making it's presence felt was usually the order of the day. The training was always fun, but started with being handed a stiff brush to remove the detritus from the excesses of the teenage drinking sessions from the night before. The track also had a reputation of removing skin; a tumble learning to ride fixed on a tarmac surface (or was it concrete) resulted in bruised pride and a few plasters. Thankfully, this didn't happen too often, once was enough.

I've not visited the track for many years, but the next time I'm back, I'll stop by and hopefully have a ride. In the meantime, tonight's malt and memory trigger is a Glen Elgin. The nose is initially smokey, followed by toffee. Taste has a hint of liquorice with peppery spice that lingers on the lips. It's from 1986, fitting as I was thirteen years old back then and quite possibly on my way home from a late season trip to the track before the weekly club meeting.

The sublime Glen Elgin malt was a kind gift from Routemaster General and was handed over after we completed the first round of the 2012 Scottish Cyclocross Series - a wee report is on it's way.

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aHoy! aHoy!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-19800880

and

http://www.glasgowvelodrome.co.uk/

and more

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/live-video-chat-with-sir-chris-hoy-now-35441/

cyclesguff can't wait

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PHIL

The travels of cyclesguff continue; it's just a pity that a recent trip to Antwerp wasn't earlier in the year or even a few weeks back to enjoy the full Philippe Gilbert effect. Sitting at home watching the world unfold on TV, I had an image of the fabulous Phil Ligget in my head - his body moving in uncontrolled excitement, ear cans on, mic close to his lips, trying not to mention that his name was painted on the road, Paul Sherwen is sitting alongside, eagerly waiting for a millisecond gap to open for a chance of a few words. Suddenly, a Belgium rider bursts from the leaders, showing the rest of the bunch how you remind the critics what a great rider is capable of. PHIL on the road conjured up a weird scene, especially as I was watching Eurosport. Just keep an eye on Le Tour 2013 coverage for DUFFERS

Antwerp City Hall

Antwerp is the start town of the semi-classic (terrible reference)  Grote Scheldeprijs. I have to admit my ignorance and inform fellow guffers that this race has never made it onto my radar. It just so happens to be the oldest bike race in Flanders, and has a list of winners from Roger De Vlaeminck to Mark Cavendish. Cavendish jointly holds the record for most wins with the Belgian, Piet Oellibrandt. Depending on where Cavendish ends up in 2013, he may have some tasty Belgium team mates to contend with if he's looking for the outright record of four wins.

The Grote Scheldeprijs starts just outside the Antwerp City Hall. The bike parking inside is a reminder of how central the bicycle is to life in Flanders. 

If you ever have the chance to visit Antwerp, go for it! I didn't have much time to explore the city, but what I did see and experience will certainly result in a return journey. 

This wonderful Derny deserves a just because...

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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.

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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