Blogs

Starting a race team

What do you do if you want to start your own race team?  We've all (probably) watched a LOT of pro cycling the and thought that we could do a good job of organising a team, giving riders a sense of purpose... or designing a better kit (Katusha... shudder).  So what would make you do it?  James Ashberry started Stay Classy/Well Handled RT in 2012 with his mate Iain Bolton after they decided that they'd like to give it a go.

If you start it... they will come

Cycling and the law: what is your experience?

wjputt at the forum writes:

Considering getting some Oakley glasses. Ones with a prescription required though. Seem very expensive. Are they worth it?

That depends on the opportunity cost, should it apply in your financial circumstances. Setting aside the prescriptive need, which can be met by contacts, consider also the following:

Enigma make well reviewed bikes, but for one reason or another not all of them find an immediate home, so there are regular sales to keep old stock from crowding out the new.

Below are some of the models currently on offer, bespoke in every sense of the word. 

Be sure to tell them I sent you.

The summer of 2012 was a memorable one for me. When Sir Chris Hoy was powering away from Maximilian Levy to take the Keirin title at the London Olympics, I was halfway up an Alp struggling to get a phone signal to find out the result. Just a few weeks later I'd be treading the halls of the Eurobike show with the man himself, working with him to create the new bike range that bears his name.

No-one who follows cycling will forget where they were when they heard of Wouter Weylandt’s death after that crash on the descent of the Passo del Becco, some 17 kilometres from the finish of Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia.

In my case, the worst fears were confirmed when I phoned the office as I sat on a plane about to taxi away from the departure gate at Milan’s Malpensa airport, on my way home after spending a few days at the race.

Martin Blain at the CTC forum writes:

I'm being offered a tatty Brompton for £250. Is it worth it?

It's been donated to a bike fixing charity and has been checked over by volunteer mechanics, new cables, brake blocks, chain, lubricated front hub and it's now in good mechanical condition however the paint work is fairly tatty...

Lies.

As humans, we get ill from time to time.  It's not uncommon to play up a cold to justify the corresponding sick day from work.  Cyclists are a bit different.  We'll play it down so that we can get out on our bikes quicker, say we feel better when we know that we're not ready to go out and hammer the pedals.  We'll kid ourselves and others about our condition... Christ, this sounds like I'm talking about an addiction.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

Well, that was pretty epic. I rode further than ever have I done before, and learnt new and deeper meanings of the term 'bonk'. Many hills were climbed, and one farmer's gate decorated.

I'll do a full write up soon but in the meantime here's a video I made of the day to give you a taste of the fun. Enjoy!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/308631008

"Can you honk the horn please?" asks the man with the clipboard after enquiring of me how to check tyre pressure. Yes Sir. Show and tell over, he settles in to ride shotgun. "Go left." Mirror Signal Manoeuvre, Sir Yes Sir. Roads may have not been built for cars, but Tunbridge Wells is full of them today. Even if it wasn't, I must be observed to be observing. Schrödinger would approve.