Testing Times - February 2010

PLANET X MOVE COMPLETE Management now able to cycle to work ... shop-floor workers resign themselves to a 25mile each way trip dicing with death on the hard shoulder of the M18 It’s all done and dusted. The new Planet X headquarters that has been years in the making is now a reality. Located just off junction 34 of the M1 next to the award winning Magna adventure centre outside of Sheffield, Planet X hope to make this THE focal point for ‘a day out for all the family’. Drop the Mrs off for a day’s shopping and lose the kids at the adventure centre then make yourself scarce for a few hours in the comfort of Dave’s new baby.

Leaked reports of heating and running hot and cold water are yet to be confirmed, but even the respected Ray Eden is satisfied that his daily 25-mile commute to work and back along the hard shoulder of the M18 on his tried and trusted SL Pro is worth the trip. Would YOU argue with HIM?

Circulation: there’s still a pulse … just! FEBRUARY 2010 WHAT’S INSIDE: The Nikie-Bikie Peter Whitfield on Ant Taylor Dude ‘Masher’ Marsland spills the beans on turbo training secrets Paul Gittins gets nostalgic

Planet X’s new state of the art accommodation alongside the M1

Testing Times’ web-site on the way … sometime … somewhere …

It hasn’t been overlooked but these things take time. Resources have been redirected to more important areas of the business … such as the racing season which is almost upon us. One of the leading drivers of Testing Times, Ian Cammish is reported to be back in training and too damned lazy to pull his finger out to get the thing up and running.

Competitors need not be worried (i.e. competitors of Testing Times NOT competitors of Cammish’s … because he’s far too old and fat to get concerned about). Its world-wide domination of its own unique brand of spelling errors and grammatical cock-ups is something its editorial team hold close to its heart … nothing is going to change. No matter how hard they try! It’s doomed!

Graham Bickle v Alex Royle … FIGHT!! Gavin ‘good-man’ Hinxman adjudicates Bob Porter Gambling on … the right side Sue Choccychoccy Fenwick meets Ruth Eyles NEW! Letters page (aka Lettuce page … against the better judgement of other vegetables it must be said!)

Nob off … yer Chrono No Sportives … no DVDs … no race results … no taste … you know what to expect by now ...

Wanted … tall stories … rumours (true or otherwise) … scandal … gossip … etc. Contact ian@planet-x-bikes.com

NEXT MONTH: THINGS COMING SOON: What’s your tipple?

CAN ONLY GET BETTER SEE MORE AT

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TESTING TIMES INTRODUCES … THE NIKIE BIKIE TO THE TRIATHLON WORLD Save precious time in transition Another major scoop by Britain’s crappest time trial fanzine Two of the world’s leading sports goods suppliers have combined to produce a long overdue contribution to triathlon transition technology. Many hours of heart burn and even more nano-seconds of thought have gone into the design of what has been termed ‘a giant leap forward for triathletes the world over’. Having seen some of its highly overpaid sponsored athletes finish bike sections in challenging positions only to lose touch in the transition zone, Planet X team management sought advice and

inspiration from another equally minded conglomerate and have, together, come up with the Nikie Bikie. Designed to fit any rider’s shoe size, the Nikie Bikie is claimed to save ‘heaps of time’ in the transition zone. What could be better than waltzing straight through to the trot while your competitors lose touch having to mount their bikes (ooeerr!), change shoes, tie laces etc etc?

So simple, it’s almost stupid.

DISAPPEARING STEALIEST-EVER STEALTH MYSTERY SOLVED … Hyde’s weak bladder believed to be to blame Rumours that Testing Times’ very trying tester Paul Hyde has been secretly road testing Planet X’s stealthiest ever Stealth appear to be well founded according to a recent report in the West Kent Daily Times.

In the course of the past few weeks, many column inches have been devoted to the mysterious accidents that have been occurring on footpaths alongside public houses and hedgerows in and around the sleepy hamlet of Hydesville. The cause only became apparent when the hapless SEE MORE AT

Hyde turned up at the local cop shop to report a number of his bikes missing. “To be quite honest I’ve tried to keep this whole sorry story quiet … but in the last three weeks I’ve lost five bikes and on the occasions nobody’s bumped into them (which reminded me where I’d left them), I’d have to walk home. Do you know I’ve walked nearly 15 miles this week alone? That’s nearly as many miles as I clock up on my bike in a month’s training.”

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Found ... (not sure how though) one of Hyde’s missing stealthiest ever Stealths

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ADVERTISEMENT

“You don’t get a body like mine by eating poncy food prepared in a lab … Real Heel Meals and Bread and Dripping Cheweys did it for me”

Real Heel Meal - Colin ‘the Power’ Parkinson has teamed up with Planet X gourmets Loughran, Bennett and Stevo to launch a new range of nutritional products aimed at the north’s hardest of hardmen.

Unfortunately, the Power was unable to make the final showdown which was held at Loughran’s local PH one late winter’s evening when the finishing touches to the products were discussed over Stevo’s two for the price of one lamb cutlet and Belgian brussell pizza, Bennett’s chips and mushy-pea curry-gravyboat and Loughran’s double choc and toffee tiramisu and custard with a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese. The constitution of each members’ metabolism was then clearly put to the test as the Power’s proposals were read through and given the go-ahead from Planet X head honcho Loughran.

The Power getting to grips with a Black Pudding Bar … and loving every minute of it.

First up … for those from the land of Pork Pies and Pig Trotter Porkey Burgers comes the Power’s very own Real Heel Meal. Not for the faint-hearted in gastro-cuisine but bit-size and chewy no doubt. Easy to tuck away in your back pocket and forget about for sure.

Next up for the northern hardmen … aimed particularly at Messrs Randle and Lovatt … is the Power’s own recipe Black Pudding Bar and Bread and Dripping chewey.

Harking back to when eating in races was seen to be a sign of weakness, these two recipes have been designed specifically to stave off hunger. With a couple of them in

your back pocket you aren’t going to feel peckish very quickly let’s face it.

The Power has already managed to arrange a national distribution network for these new products and is looking forward to reaping the benefits just as soon as his competitors start trying them. Available from butchers near you soon.

Out soon… Haggis and Honey Heaven. A rich blend of seasoned Haggis and locally grown free-range honey harvested from East Anglian honey fields without the use of genetically modified herbicidal pesticides or fertilisers.

Guaranteed to go down like a depth charge and give you repeated surges of acidic feedback.

SEE MORE AT

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ENIGMA …

ANT TAYLOR

by Peter Whitfield Somehow the 100 has always seemed to be the classic timetrialling distance. Poised between the speed and the endurance events, it’s like the mile in running Like the mile it has seen some sensational breakthrough races, when massive margins have been carved from the existing record: remember cyclists gasping in disbelief when champions like Joy, Booty, Colden, Roach, Griffiths or Cammish took anything from three to seven minutes from the record. Among these giant 100-milers there was Ant Taylor whose 100-miling brilliance won him the BAR championship in 1969, but left behind the memory of an enigma in the history of the sport.

Taylor was an intriguing character for a number reasons, not least because a year after this record ride, he vanished from the sport. It’s always fascinating to follow the careers of great riders who kept on and on racing and winning for ten, fifteen or even twenty years; but in a way it’s equally interesting to try to understand those who devote their entire life to cycling in its most intense form for two or three years, win the highest honours in the sport, then walk away from it all, as Taylor did when he was just twentyfour years old.

Ant came from Solihull, and rode first for that club, then for the Oldbury & District. He started racing at the age of fourteen, but he really started to progress only when he was eighteen SEE MORE AT

Photograph courtesy of Ron Good

or nineteen: from being a sub-hour junior to becoming BAR champion took him just four years. His background was slightly unusual in the world of club cycling: his parents owned and ran their own business, and were wealthy enough to send Ant to public school. This background was important to him later, since it gave him the independence to devote himself to a training regime that few other riders could have even attempted. He worked for his parents during the winter, but in the summer months he was free to ride all day every day if he wanted to, and he made good use of his time. 500 miles a week was not unusual, with individual rides of up to 200 miles, but more often two daily sessions: 50 in the morning, home for lunch, then another 50 in the afternoon, and this was a routine he kept up for months at a time. This was fulltime cycling at its most committed: more than thirty hours a week on the bike, and adding in preparation and recovery time, there was no room for any other life.

You would expect an awesome regime like this to yield results, and it certainly did: his first BAR year was 1968, and he came second in the table behind Roach, recording 3:57 for the 100 in the process. At the events and

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in the pages of Cycling, the unsmiling Taylor features became instantly unmistakable: he looked tough and threatening, and he was cycling’s first skinhead, with his weekly cut, almost down to the bone. In Ant’s case this wasn’t just an image, for he was definitely a loner, who planned, trained and raced on his own and in his own way, allowing no one to get really close to him.

In the following year it was his 100-mile strength that decisively toppled Roach from the number one spot.

First Ant took the championship on the Bath Road by the narrow margin of 45 seconds over Roach, then a month later came the return match in the Yorkshire Century event on Boroughbridge. Already this course was coming to be seen as holding the key to fast times, but neither Taylor nor anyone else could have predicted what would happen that day. Roach was unwell and out of the picture, leaving Ant to storm through the field unchallenged to a time of 3:46:37, the first sub-3:50 ride, shattering the existing record by four minutes, stunning the time-trial world, and setting a standard that would remain unbeaten for seven years. A young Phil Griffiths was second, eight minutes down, and Jeff Marshall was third. Griffiths

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had been ordered to stop by police patrol car for riding out in the carriageway, but he declined their suggestion, saying, “The finish is only a couple of miles away – I’ll talk to you there!” After the race Taylor commented that his time was no fluke, but admitted that he couldn’t have done it on any other course in the country.

The Boro’ was like that: things happened there that were completely unpredictable. What he didn’t mention was that he had ridden 130 miles the day before that race, returning from the south coast to Birmingham! What would his time have been if he'd spent that Saturday resting in the garden with his feet up?

A week later came the 12 championship, and Ant piled up 278 miles, which would have been a new competition record – except that he finished second to John Watson, whose 282 miles put the record on the shelf for almost a decade. Nevertheless Taylor’s phenomenal 100 had brought him the BAR title, and with a new record average speed. In the big October BAR interview in Cycling (remember that long-dead tradition?)

Ant made some pretty surprising statements: that he had gone as far as he wanted to with time-trialling, that he was going to switch to road-racing, and that a world championship title in 1970 was his big target. Considering that he had never in his life won a road-race of any kind, this raised more than a little derisive laughter, and succeeded in annoying timetriallists and roadmen alike. It sounded detached from reality, and it was not a good omen for 1970.

Not surprisingly, Ant was unable to get the road-race results that would convince the selectors to give him a chance in the World’s road race in Leicester, but he was an obvious choice for the team time trial. He was one of a group of a dozen who rode in trials against each other in various permutations, until team coach Dick Poole had identified the four he wanted. In one trial Taylor, Jeff Marshall, John Tooby and Dave Allan recorded 2:8:43 for the 100 kilometres, the fastest ever by any British team. With one change – Roach taking Allan’s place – this would be the squad that would ride the World’s at SEE MORE AT

Photograph from Bernard Thompson’s cycling archive

Leicester in August.

That ride became part of the black legend of British performances in this problematic event, and for Taylor personally it had a shattering impact. The records show that the championship was won by Russia, in the slowlooking time of 2:12:18. The course was a brute, five legs, twelve miles each, up and down the A46 on a stretch known as the Six Hills, on a very windy day. The British squad finished sixteenth, nine minutes down.

Dick Poole commented afterwards that no British riders could possibly have gone faster, and the riders themselves knew that they couldn’t have tried any harder. But for Taylor it was more than a disappointment, it was the end of everything. As reported at the time, he was dropped on the final leg, although it was not reported that he had actually crashed off when he clipped one of the oil drums that marked the turns. He re-mounted quickly, but the others were gone, and Ant finished alone, in a near-trance with exhaustion and demoralisation.

Another strange thing never reported, was that he had taken delivery of a brand-new bike for the event, which he had never tested before he pedalled away from the start-line of that World Championship. You have to wonder why an experienced rider would do that, taking such a big chance before such an important event. Afterwards, all four were natu-

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rally despondent, but Ant was the only one talking of retirement.

And he was serious: he never completed the BAR distances that year, and he was never seen in serious competition again. Occasionally, over the years, admirers or journalists would contact him to wanting to talk about the past – as for example Bernard Thompson did in 1988, when he was writing his history of the RTTC – but Ant’s answer was always, “Nothing to say.” It was a sad end to the career of a rider who had achieved so much: he had won national titles and set a historic record for a classic distance, and he had done all this entirely on his own, before he was twenty-four years old.

But then he seems to have decided that that one failure at Leicester had rendered all this worthless, and that he wanted nothing more to do with the sport. Did he forget that nobody is invulnerable, nobody is a god? He has never commented publicly on these events, so his true feelings are unknown. In some ways maybe this is a fitting conclusion to the career of this enigmatic champion. But whether he likes it or not, Taylor is part of timetrialling history. So Ant, if you are reading this and want to have your say, to set the record straight about what you did and why, this is the time to do it: we want to hear from you.

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TOP COACH DUDE ‘MASHER’ MARSLAND BLOWS THE LID ON TURBO TRAINING SECRETS former coach and spokesman for and on behalf of himself and any one else who cares to listen, let it be known that Dude Masher’s methods weren’t as good as his own and poo-poo’d the use of turbo trainers. “They haven’t a place in any serious cyclist’s training regime.

There aren’t enough hours in the day to fit turbo training in if you’re doing the road training that’s necessary to be as good as I was. Knuckle down to a good solid 500 miles a day and that’ll sort the wheat out from the chaff I can tell you!”

Dude ‘Masher’ Marsland of Floyd is believed to have been Lincoln was last night in putting on a brave face hiding after being duped into bearing in mind that many a revealing top secret turbo successful cyclist has training methods to Britain’s followed Dude Masher’s crappest time trial fanzine programme. Indeed, Dude Testing Times. The Masher himself has improved scrupulous on-line beyond all recognition by publication went under-cover, sticking to this simple posing as a paying customer, approach to structured turbo and managed to secretly tape training. coveted information over a In part one of this two part cuppa and a couple of packets feature, Dude Masher reveals of Chocolate Hobnobs. all on the preparation side of Dae Floyd, Dude Masher’s turbo training. Next month, as

Leaked clandestine code of coaching practices causes major concern for Britain’s brotherhood of coaches

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long as it doesn’t work for us (if it does, it’ll be kept a secret for sure), we’ll be letting you know the real nitty gritty. In the meantime, Dude Masher’s whereabouts will be known only by the favoured few … Time Trial Weekly please note … he’s not for sale either.

TIME-BASE AND THE UNIVERSAL TURBO This winter has been a write off so far in terms of being able to consistently get out and about training on the roads. During the first week of a crisp new white blanket of snow, everyone loves the freshness and novelty of it all. By the third and fourth week, unless you are a school-kid or training for the Winter Olympics, most people wouldn’t care if they never clapped eyes on another Snowman again!

Winter is the time when we reach for the sanctuary of the garage, shed or spare room where the trusty turbo awaits, always willing and ready to perform regardless of the inclement weather outside. Those who don’t possess one of these excellent training aids will have to make do with the gym as a substitute where you can replicate sessions on an indoor bike/ rowing or running machine. If the

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gym is not an option, then running up and down stairs or a body-weight circuit session 2-4 times a week should be enough to keep you ticking over.

As it’s not possible to cover every turbo training option in one short article we will aim this at those who are limited to 3-6 hours a week and looking to increase their power and fitness for short distance time-trials.

The first thing we need to do in any fitness program is set a baseline. You will need to calibrate your turbo trainer by using either the calibration function (if it has one) or calibrating it yourself. The easiest way to do this is to stick 100 PSI in the back tyre and pedal at 18-22 mph for 10 minutes at 90-95 rpm. This will warm you, the tyre and your rig up all at the same time. Whichever speed suits your rig best though-you will need to stick to that speed for subsequent calibrations to keep all testing protocol the same.

After 10 minutes you need to calibrate. On most rigs without a calibration function I have found a run down time of between 12-13 seconds to be the best in terms of replicating how it feels on the road. In order to achieve this, you will need to make an exact note of how many turns and quarter/half turns it takes to achieve a run down time of 12-13 seconds once you have turned the knob which applies force to the rear tyre, as soon as it touches. To do this you simply pick a medium sized gear (say a 53x15) and accelerate up to 25mph then stop pedalling. At the precise moment you stop, start your stopwatch and count how long it takes for the rear wheel to come to a complete stop. When you have found the combination that puts you in the 12-13 second ballpark make a note of the exact combination of turns from when the freely spun tyre made contact with the roller. All you have to do in future is to stick to the same warm up and calibration routine and settings exactly to know that your data is accurate and repeatable for you and your rig.

Once the rig has been calibrated, we need to set a base line test using your speed or power to set your speed /power levels. There are two that I will recommend to the timeSEE MORE AT

starved athlete: one is 10 minutes and the other is 20. All you need to do then is choose which one you prefer and simply pedal as hard as you can for that period of time. For the purpose of this article we will use the 20- minute test. I always suggest to my athletes that they break the test into four equal parts so the first 2.5 or 5 minutes respectively would be spent gradually building up speed so you don’t go off to hard and ruin your chance of your best result! During the 2nd block (if you have paced it right) you should be able to increase the speed-power slightly by .5 MPH or 5 watts. In the 3rd block, you hold it steady and in the last block hold on, or increase slightly, emptying the tanks in the last minute (if there is anything left to empty that is!).

What I am looking for as a coach is a power/speed line that builds in the first 5-10 minutes and is then pretty much flat to the end or with a slight kick at the end. What I am not happy to see is a big spike at the beginning than a big drop or gradual drop in power with a few spikes here and there once the lactate from the initial overestimation of power / speed catches up and you are no longer able to carry on at that pace. When you go into the red for too long it’s game over so it is good to have a pacing strategy that allows you to get a feel for what’s right and it is always better to start to slow than too fast! On a pain scale of one to ten (one being effortless and ten being the last 10 seconds of an all out sprint for the line) the first block should score a solid 7, the 2nd block an 8 the 3rd an 89 and the last a 9-10 If you find yourself at 8-9 in the first block you have gone off too hard…simple ‘aint it?

So let’s say you have opted for the 20-minute test and your average power for that test was 250w or 25 mph what then? Well in the trade we call this your 20-minute critical power or speed (CP-20-CS-20). On average, your maximum sustainable 1-hour power /speed will be between 89-95% of this 20-minute effort. I always start my athletes at 90% of this and then look at their feedback scores to adjust each one so I can see where they are as individuals within that range. We

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call this hour of power your ‘functional threshold power’ or FTP as you may have heard it expressed before or FTS, if we are using speed as our measure.

To elicit a gain in FTP and top end 20-minute speed, which we equate, to your 10-mile TT speed you will need to train at or around or above those speeds in order to make ongoing gains.

Fat burning rides up to 3 hours long would be done at endurance pace which will be between 55 - 75% of your estimated 1 hour pace. Using the case above, this would be 250w x 90% = 225w x 55 / 75% = 124-169w or 22.5mph x 55 / 75% = 12.4 / 17mph and I would tell my guys to try and stick mid range as much as possible within these speeds / powers.

Tempo would be 76 - 85% of FTP/S so 171 - 191w or 17.1 to 19.1 mph.

Threshold would be 86-100% of FTP/ S so 194—225w or 19.3 to 22.5 mph.

Sub threshold would be 101- 120% of FTP/S so 227—270w or 22.7 to 27mph.

I normally work on the following for on the road sessions: Endurance Zone: up three 3 hours Tempo: up to 2 hours.

Threshold: up to 90 minutes.

Sub threshold: up to 30 minutes total.

On the turbo, tempo would be up to an hour – threshold up to 40 minutes and sub threshold the same 30 minutes.

I am not an advocate of super long turbo sessions so 90 minutes all in would be the very maximum I would prescribe and that would be when doing a long tempo session and includes warming up and down! Most sessions would last around the hour and the maximum I have prescribed in a week is 4. All recovery is done with your feet up or trickling along for a maximum of 1 hour continuous at below 55% of your FTP/S, so literally taking your bike for a walk!

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CURRENT TIME TRIALLISTS ARE SOFTIES … CLAIMS TESTING TIMES’ CONTRIBUTOR (not the good Mr Gittins I might hasten to add! Ed) “They’ve never had it so good. When I was a lad …” plastic bag inside when really wet. A woolly bobble hat or flat cap covered the head and a scarf kept the draught from the neck. All this was windcatching and heavy but we young lads accepted it as normal. A cape was worn in heavy rain – but feet and lower legs still got soaked and the cotton trouser fabric took ages to dry out. No wonder we all had colds each winter! I don’t think I ever had warm feet in winter until the first overshoes were introduced (early 70’s?) and these were a revelation and, in my mind, one of the best things ever to be introduced to cycling. Nowadays it’s the opposite and it has to be very cold to get my toes tingling.

HOW (we used to dress ourselves) He races here, he races there, On fixed wheel or derailleur, His shorts are always clean and his jersey’s neatly pressed, For he’s a dedicated follower of fashion.

(With apologies to The Kinks who, with the surname Davies, ought to be Welsh even if they’re not) Sitting here on a dismal Friday afternoon in January, looking at the rain pouring down outside and pondering on the dreadful snowy and icy month we’ve all just experienced, I (for some reason that I can’t really explain) started thinking about clothing. Well, cycling clothing that is, possibly because I haven’t worn any since before Christmas as, keen as I am, I’m not going out in that stuff and risk breaking my leg or arm!

These days, day to day clothing seems to consist mainly of jeans, T-shirt and a shirt on top (a very thick shirt – or 2 even – during January!) which hasn’t changed much since I was a lad.

Cycling clothing however, bears no comparison with the stuff we used to wear in days of yore, especially during winter, and this is one aspect of cycling that for me at least, the rose tinted spectacles are not worn when reminiscing.

Nowadays, with various combinations of relatively thin layers of modern thermal wicking fabrics, there is no excuse for getting cold. I have a jacket which I wear with only a single thermal layer underneath even on the coldest of occasions, a practice that would have been unthinkable in ‘the SEE MORE AT

good old days’. Add to this a pair of ‘Roubaix’ fabric tights, thermal socks and overshoes, thermal windproof gloves and a thermal earcovering skull cap under the helmet and you can be sweating madly in a very short space of time – and not feel overdressed or restricted.

Compare this to my typical winter cycling wardrobe in the ‘60’s. A ‘base layer’ of M&S string vest with a thick cotton T-shirt over which held the sweat and quickly became cold once stopped. Over this a woolly racing jersey (or 2) and then at least two thick woollen pullovers on the outside. I very early discovered the benefits of a sheet of newspaper or brown paper between the layers to cut out the icy blast on the delicate chest area. The bottom half in the early days was wool racing shorts under denim jeans with a pair of toe-straps acting as trouser-clips, football socks and leather shoes with possibly a

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Amongst my club-mates there were many varying attempts at beating the cold. One guy always turned up on clubruns with his pyjamas on underneath all his outer layers.

Perhaps he never got undressed on a Sunday and went straight to bed when he got home. Another never wore gloves but used wool socks as mitts.

Effective but occasionally a bit smelly. An older member wore his WW2 battle dress as a top layer and another wore a ‘proper’ wool check shirt complete with buttoned up collar and tweed tie. When nylon anoraks were introduced they became popular for week or two and until it was realised that they were like wearing an unventilated plastic bag so they were quickly discarded. One of the warmest base layers I had was actually an old woollen dress of my mothers. In a beige colour and having long sleeves it was ideal (after a judicious shortening of the body) so remember, you read of my early attempts at cross dressing here in Testing Times! (There haven’t been any later attempts though so don’t start getting the wrong idea!)

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My first effort at advancing my cycling dress sense was the purchase of a pair of grey/blue tweed ‘plustwos’ from Ossie Dover in Liverpool, ‘The Cycling Tailor’ as he advertised himself. These were in a heavy-ish wool mix fabric and were worn with knee length socks in a toning dark / light blue pattern and made me feel quite ‘gen’ when I paraded myself on clubruns and in the local cyclist cafes.

My school mates however, thought I looked a bit of a prat whenever they saw me on my bike! These ‘plusses’ were often worn with a ‘Combat Jacket’ from the Army and Navy Stores or ‘Milletts’ and, after seeing a photo of John Woodburn similarly attired, a beret and towelling scarf completed the outfit. Gloves were always wool and got wet but sheepskin mitts became popular and were a great improvement if a bit bulky.

bespectacled youth into svelte championship material I ordered one of these from the local shop and eagerly awaited its delivery. Rushing home with my purchase I excitedly tried it on, only to discover that, on me, the effect was not quite the same as in the adverts. It hugged my figure only in the places where it touched – the wrists, waist and ankles. The neck was low, the arms and legs baggy and it was very ‘full’ in the front so that it hung down nearly to my top tube when on the drops. On the plus side though – it was the right colour! The one consolation was that – as my mother was always telling me – I would grow into it. More than 45 years later I think I still would be! I did wear it quite a lot (the cost of it meant I had to!) and thankfully it gradually shrank in the wash which made it fit a bit better – but nothing like today’s lycra versions.

In the late 60’s plusses became a bit out of fashion and Holdsworthy began selling ‘Training Trousers’ which were like ordinary ‘drainpipes’ but with zips in the lower legs and a bit more room for movement in the nether regions. Wearing these one didn’t feel quite so out of place when in the company of ‘normal’ people but the ‘clip-clop’ of shoe plates tended to give the game away and you were soon recognised as being a ‘Cyclist’ and therefore given a wide berth in case the condition was contagious.

Shorts were hardly ever worn except when racing. As well as being a source of amusement and a generator of ribald repartee from the general populace, unclothed legs were frowned upon by trainers and ‘those in the know’ and the general consensus was to keep the legs covered at all times to prevent damaging the delicate knees and other tender areas. These days I hardly wear trousers at all for the summer months and can’t say that I’ve experienced any significant knee damage apart from the odd insect sting. Owing to global warming, the wearing of shorts has now spread to the masses and there are now far more ill-shaped naked pasty-toned legs on view than ever appeared on cyclists. I suppose the wearing of shorts is a bit like drinking (on the bike that is).

Then we were told to avoid drinking during a race as it only made you thirstier which is in direct contrast to today’s advice. How much better would we have gone if we had drunk more, especially in 50’s and 100’s.

Another option for slightly warmer weather was a track suit top / bottoms. In those days, the average track suit sold as ‘sports’ wear was a voluminous affair which hung in graceful (!) folds across and down the body. Not only would the legs have caught in the chain if worn on a bike – the arms and body possibly would have as well! All this promised to radically change when various advertisements (such as in the Holdsworthy Cycling Aids catalogue) appeared for dedicated cycling track suits. These were shown by drawings rather than photos and generally featured an Adonis-like gent resplendent in a figure-hugging sleek garment that made him look like a world champion. Thinking that I too would be transformed from a skinny SEE MORE AT

Shoes are a complete subject in themselves. In general, shoes in the 50’s and 60’s were all leather with various add-on patches in strategic positions to counter the wear of toestraps and with heels to allow a degree of walking. Dedicated ‘racing’

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shoes started to creep in during the 60’s and these were generally of Italian origin with exotic brands such as Detto Pietro and Crodoni. The problem with these (apart from them being designed for dainty Italian feet) was that they were full of holes, the only useful purpose of which in winter, was to allow the rain water to run out. Conversely of course, they let the rain water in – and the freezing cold – which was not very helpful.

Due to popular demand, some unperforated versions were imported along with fur-lined options (which included bootees) which made a difference until the afore mentioned introduction of overshoes. However, they were still leather which made them a devil to dry out. Thank goodness for modern man-made versions!

So, there you have it, a brief introduction to the wonderful world of classic winter cycle clothing. After reading this aren’t you glad you’re cycling now rather than then? Even as a dyed-in-the-wool classic bike owner I know I am!

Paul Gittins

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In the words of the immortal BAFTA award-winning Harry Hill … I like Graham Bickle … I also like Alex Royle … but who was / is better? There’s only one way to find out … FIGHT!!!

Back in 1974, Northamptonshire’s Graham Bickle of Rockingham Forest Wheelers set a new junior competition record of 21:16. This record beat the previous figure of 21:20 set by Nick Lelliot of Worthing Excelsior CC. Graham’s record stood until the following season when Steve Jones of Beacon Roads CC lowered the figure by a further 8 seconds.

The record currently stands at 19:13 set in 2005 by Glendene CC’s Alex Dowsett.

35 years after Bickle’s junior record ride, juvenile Alex Royle of Coveryourcar.co.uk lowered the juvenile record to 19minutes 56 seconds, breaking the 20 minute barrier for the first time. The previous record of 20:13 was set by Ceri Pritchard back in 1993.

We look at these two impressive record breaking riders and compare their rides, equipment and training methods.

Testing Times tracked down both riders (Graham is still an active tester, still racing for Rockingham Forest Wheelers) How or why did you get interested in cycling?

GB: My brother Alan, who is 16 years older than me, was a keen cyclist and regularly rode time trials. Before I raced myself I remember travelling with him to an event near Blyth on the A1. I’m not sure if he was riding the event and off near the end of the field himself, or if we had travelled there to watch the race, but as we approached the course we passed some early starters in the car. For some reason the sight of the riders emerging from the mist one by one really captured my imagination. It wasn’t long after SEE MORE AT

Typical Bickle - 21:16 on the Sawtry Norman Cross N10/17 course … as a junior … going Old Skool. this that I started riding a bike for fun rather than just using it to bike to school and do my paper round. Soon after this I joined the Rockingham Forest Wheelers, the same club as my brother, and had a go myself.

AR: My grandfather used to race long distance time trials, and when I was 14 years old and 13 stone, I decided to go out with him on a couple of runs to lose some weight.

What age did you start cycle racing?

GB: I was 13 years old.

AR: 14 What was your first race & how did you do?

GB: My first race was a Rockingham Forest Wheelers club 10 on the 28th of April 1971. I recorded a time of 31:19 and the event was won by Bas Clarke in 23:00. I came back for another go the next week and was over a minute slower, but by the end of the season I had improved to 28:25.

AR: Rossendale RC 11 mile Spoco 36 minutes and 5th from last.

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Do / did you have a cycling hero?

GB: I have had several cycling heroes over the years, but Beryl Burton remains my favourite. A great rider, she was so consistently good. The BBAR for twenty-five consecutive years, all those records she set and she still found time to win seven world championships. There will never be another Beryl - she was amazing.

AR: Fabian Cancellera (tester)

event at Sawtry near Peterborough on the 13th April 1974.

AR: YCF ‘10’ 6 June 2009.

Was it a good day?

GB: It must have been a good day, but I don’t remember the exact conditions.

AR: Not brilliant, was quite windy.

Where did you finish overall?

GB: I won the junior event by 1 minute 26 seconds ahead of Ian Cammish who is a year older than me. Adrian Collard was the next fastest on the day - he won the senior event with 21:58. I always felt sorry for Adrian because during the previous season (1973) he had twice recorded a faster time than the existing junior competition record that I officially improved, but when the course was re-measured it was discovered that it was several yards short and the times he set were not ratified. The course he used was the same one as I set the record on but, of course, the extra yards had been added by then. Adrian’s mum and dad presented me with an engraved tankard for breaking the record that Adrian had been unlucky not to claim himself.

AR: Won the event.

The lesser-spotted Royle-Mantis caught doing what it does best in its natural habitat by Dr Andy Waters (Techno) Most impressive EVER time trial?

GB: Only ever going to be one answer to that isn’t there? Ian Cammish’s 3:31:53 ‘100’.

Done without tri-bars, disc or aero helmet.

Mind boggling! ;-) AR: Everyone round here still talks about Ian Cammish’s record breaking ‘100’ from 1983. I can’t imagine there’s anyone alive today capable of beating that without the aid of all the aero gizmos. ;-) What age were you when you set your 10 mile ride?

GB: I was 16 AR: 15 What was your height & weight?

GB: At 16 I was 6 foot tall and I think I weighed somewhere between 11½ and 12 stones. I haven’t grown any taller since then but I have grown a lot wider.

AR: 11 stones and 5ft 10ins Were you at school / college / work at the time?

GB: I had been at work for about a month. I finished my O levels at school one Friday in June 1974 and started work 3 days later.

AR: At school. I set the record right in the middle of my GCSE examinations.

What was that event & date?

GB: The event was a Fenland Clarion Saturday afternoon SEE MORE AT

What was the winning time?

GB: My time of 21:16 was the winning time.

AR: 19:56 What bike were you riding?

GB: I had a second-hand 531 Mercian which I built up myself. Most of the components were second-hand. It had a TA chainset, 5-speed Regina freewheel, Simplex gears, Unica Nitor saddle, Mafac break levers, Weinman side-pull break mechanisms and some really cheap unbranded bargain-bucket alloy handlebars that I had bought from a local bike shop. Looking back, these bars were probably a good choice because they were a little bit narrower than the branded makes and would have been slightly more aerodynamic. The wheels had 36-spoke alloy sprint rims on Campag record large-flange hubs with Barum PBW tubs. I used to pump the tyres too hard though, and after breaking the record I noticed an egg shaped lump in the back tyre. About six or seven weeks later a split started to appear in the down tube of my frame near the band-on fitting gear lever. My friend and clubmate Mick Ward, who was a bike and motorbike mechanic, fixed this for me by splitting the tube and braising a small section of Honda motor-bike exhaust pipe over the damaged section. I used the bike like this for the rest of the season and recorded my best ever 25 time on it in the September.

AR: Cervelo P2C How big were the gears you used in the race?

GB: I used a 5-speed set up with a 52 tooth chainring and 14 to 18 close ratio freewheel. I was in the 15 sprocket a lot during the event, and didn’t use the 14 that much. I remember changing down to the 18 sprocket climbing the rise to the roundabout turn. This was unusual for me at the

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time as I had always tackled this in the 16 or 17 sprocket on previous rides on this course. Early in the season I had been using a 55 chainring and used it again later in the season, but I used to swap chainrings about quite a bit back then.

AR: 55x11 What was a typical cadence that you would aim to race at?

GB: Typically I used to pedal at about 90 to 95 rpm on the flat and up the hills at a little slower pedal rate, but on the day I broke the record I took it into my head to pedal faster and tried to keep it near 100 rpm, although with a 52 x 14 top gear I must have been pedalling at a far higher rate than this down the hill from the turn. I had used fixed wheel all through the winter though, so never found pedalling fast a problem. I remember counting my revs during the race a couple of times to check it was close to 10 revs in 6 seconds (100rpm). This was an unusual thing for me to do though because I don’t remember doing it in many other races. I don’t know why I did it that day and I’m not sure if it helped or not. I rode a 10 using my normal pedal rates about a month later on the same course, but it wasn’t as good a day and I was only 20 seconds slower so it probably didn’t make a lot of difference. I never used to just slog along in big gears anyway.

AR: 90 revs in 55x11 will do nicely!

Did you use a stop watch / heart monitor / power meter in the race?

GB: I used a stopwatch so I could check my pedal rate heart monitors, cadence measuring devices and power meters had not been invented.

AR: No nothing … just on feel.

Did you have a cycle coach?

GB: No I didn’t have a coach when I set the record, but Jim Hendry was our club coach. He had given us several talks at the cycling club and ran circuit training sessions during the winter which I enjoyed. I picked up a lot of useful information from him and from Les Woodland’s book Cycle Racing: Training to Win. Jim coached me a couple of years later when I turned to road racing and he helped me a lot.

AR: No. Did you do any specific training for that event?

GB: I don’t remember doing anything special, but looking back at my records I noticed that during the 4 weeks prior to the ride I had ridden one 50-mile, seven 25-mile, and five 10-mile time trials. It wasn’t unusual for me to race this regularly but because it was mid-season I was able to replace club 10’s with mid-week open 25’s on several occasions. I would have also ridden 3 or 4 handicap roads races and maybe an open road race, but because I have only kept records of time trial results I cannot be sure.

Although this wasn’t a structured training program as such, it would have been pretty event-specific training for riding a good time trial when you think about it - 275 miles of short distance time trialling in 4 weeks plus some jumping about in road races to add a little more speed.

AR: Just raced a lot.

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Royle on the V718. Photo courtesy of that very nice man Andy Waters What was a typical week of training in the summer?

GB: I used to race as much as I could. It wasn’t unusual for me to ride an open 10 or 25 on Saturday, open 25 or road race on a Sunday, club 10’s on Tuesday and Wednesday and a 30-mile handicap road race on a Thursday. I rode to work and back each weekday which only amounted to about 4 miles a day, and biked out and back to the mid-week events which were no more than 10 miles from home. I didn’t have time to train as well.

AR: Race evening tens and race weekends.

What was a typical week of training in the winter?

GB: Between the end of the 1973 season and Christmas I rode a 56” fixed gear winter bike when I felt like it and went to circuit training sessions once a week. Between Christmas and the end of March I would train in the evenings on 3 or 4 nights a week but I had raised the gear to 62” fixed by then. From early February these evening rides were over a 27-mile route using the main roads between Kettering, Market Harborough and Corby. Lance Marshall, a friend of mine from Market Harborough, would ride to Corby and meet up with my clubmate Roy Crombie and they would ride together to Kettering where I would be waiting to join them. We would ride in team time trial fashion to Market Harborough where Lance would drop off. Then Roy and I would ride as a two up to Corby where he would drop off, and I would ride back to Kettering on my own. On Saturdays I might go for a 25 to 35-mile ride and on Sundays I would go on our club’s junior training ride which gradually built up from 30 miles

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Bickle during the 1974 National Junior 25mile Championship on his way to fifth place in January to 50 miles by the end of March.

AR: Long miles but been difficult this winter.

Did you do any other sports?

GB: No - I wasn’t interested in other sports - I was only obsessed with cycling. I was useless at other sports anyway, and in school I was always among the last to be picked for any team.

AR: Used to play a bit of hockey.

How many days off the bike did you have weekly / monthly?

GB: Most weeks I rode the bike every day if you count the ride to school or work, but I didn’t train or race every day.

Most weeks I had a couple of days off.

AR: 2-3 days a week, times 4.

Were you on any specific diet?

GB: No - just good basic food.

AR: No. Did you eat anything special before the race?

GB: I might have had a few glucose tablets before the race. I liked the orange ones - I think they were called Dextrosol.

AR: Tuna sandwich.

PUBLIC OUTCRY AS VEGETABLES DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS TO LETTUCES Testing Times accused of preferential treatment Possible court case pending Testing Times’ controversial decision to devote pages of its ‘desperate for attention this thing ain’t going anywhere’ monthly Fanzine to Lettuce contributions (see pages 18 19) has bought anger from vegetables world-wide.

Budgets have been blown apart to put forward a case for equal rights for vegetables. National Newspapers are believed to have been approached to support the cause.

However, Testing Times is understood to be the only publication desperate enough (and willing to take whatever is offered … not matter how small) to reap some sort of income to fund its miserable attempt to provide entertainment and news to the time-trial starved British public. Evidence of the ongoing ‘equal rights for vegetables’ campaign may indiscriminately be secreted into forthcoming editions of Testing Times (if there are any!). Readers have been warned. Testing Times has no qualms or morals. Fact!

Was that ride the highlight of your cycling career to date, if not – what was?

GB: In a way it was because it helped me win the junior BBAR that year which was my only national title, and winning this was the highlight of my cycling career.

AR: No, breaking Alex Dowsett’s junior 25 mile record of 50:22 when I was 15.

Thanks very much guys, keep up the good work.

Gavin (Good-man) Hinxman (who supports the equal rights for vegetables campaign), for Testing Times

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BOB PORTER RETURNS TO TIME TRIALLING …

Ex BBAR now full time bikie on the comeback trail Bob Porter, Hounslow and District Wheeler’s 1972 BBAR, is reported to be on the verge of a major comeback as he looks forward to recapturing some of the form which made him such a prominent rider back in the early 1970s. Having made a few tentative steps back into time trialling during 2009, the major achievement being his outstanding ride in the Seamons CC Planet X Old Skool Series event (in which he recorded 1-9-41 to finish in sixth position) Porter believes he can turn the clock back 30 years or more to turn out rides reminiscent of those which led to so many national honours with Messrs Roach, Garlinge, Marshall and Fairhead. Testing Times managed to catch up with him as he revealed his intentions to reciprocate the training and single minded approach that lead to the best ride of his phenomenal career - a 1:4:48 effort in his first ever 25 at the age of 23.

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Photos from Bob Porter’s Mum’s scrap-book Where to start? It was 1967 I was 23 with a summer riding a bike to work 8 miles each way to Heathrow and a chance reading of a copy of Cycling.

Cycling was full of TT reports and pictures. I noticed that in most 25s quite a few riders were finishing in times of 60 minutes or less. It did not seem too fast and I thought `I can do that!

Next stop … my local bike shop run by Ken Bird, he directed me to the nearest club The Middlesex Clarion.

The next club night I was there clutching my cheque book and asking where to sign. It was then explained to me that there was only one ‘25’ left that season. The Hounslow ‘25’ (it was September) within reasonable distance but because it was on a fast course, the Bath Road, I might not get in without a qualifying time.

It turned out that there was a ‘25’ on another fast course so only 98 entered so it was on. Sunday morning bright and early I arrived in a field on Pangbourne Lane just off the Bath Road near Reading, my new club

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mates showed me how to get ready, fixing a number to my polished Claud Butler Touring bike complete with Steel cranks, single 48-tooth ring and probably a 14-up to something 5speed block. It was specially prepared by fitting Dunlop Road Racing 27 x 1⅛ tyres.

A trip to the toilets (the nearest hedge with not too many mines behind) and I was ready to go. My start time arrived and I set off resplendent in cut-off trousers and the cheapest jersey in the shop singing Mother’s Little Helper to myself. It was probably a bad choice considering the sport I was getting into! I was caught after about 4 or 5 miles by Denis Brown on fixed. I thought ‘he’s not going much faster than me’ but I still couldn’t stay with him. I finished the ride in 1:4:48 and I was 94th out of 98 riders. However, I was 12 minutes behind Joe Mummery who won with a short ‘53’. I was a bit disappointed. 12 minutes seemed a lot to make up so I almost decided that this was to be my only bike race. But the Clarion lads enthused that a ‘4’ was a good first ride. Some of the lads had first rides eight or ten minutes slower than mine. I went home feeling a bit down but promised to enter the club hill climb a week or two later at Ranmore Common in Surrey. The hill climb seemed more successful with a third or fourth place. I ignored the fact that there were only 10 starters.

Onto March 1968 and the Norlond Combine ‘25’ somewhere north of London. I did a 1:6:20 in very windy conditions. This time I wore proper woolly shorts and won the handicap award, so my clubmates’ faith seemed justified. This also justified the cost of a second-hand bike with tubs (£36). Later, on 12 April, I managed to improve again to a 1:2:34 in the Crawley Wheelers event on the G133. I was now creeping up and sporting a Clarion jersey. I mentioned the BAR to my clubmates who suggested that I might only manage to race up to 50 miles in my first season. This just made me more determined to finish the required distances.

The details of the next part of my first season are a bit vague as during a house move I dumped all my training

PAGE 14

diaries from this period. I remember my first ‘100’ though. It was an early event on a G course that went over the South Downs, turned and came back the same way. It was not exactly a drag strip, but I recorded a 4:28 in spite of carrying (and eating!) the recommended chicken sarnies.

I only rode a couple of ‘50s’ and ended up with a 2:5:52. The ‘100s’ were more interesting. I rode the Westerley ‘100’ on the Bath road and managed 4:17:53 which I hoped was good enough for a BBAR certificate. I then found out that myself and another rider were wrongly reported for jumping a set of roadwork traffic lights and an inquiry was under way.

Thinking that I may be disqualified I needed another open ‘100’. The only local one was the Bath Road ‘100’ on August bank holiday, the day after the West London CA ‘100’ which I

also needed to ride as our club BAR used the WLCA events. I duly entered both hoping the dispute would be resolved by then – it wasn’t. I did 4:30:48 in the WLCA event and went home to bed. Up at 3:30am the next day to ride the Bath Road ‘100’ on the same course, I struggled a bit at around 80 miles but finished in a long 4:28 which told me that I perhaps had more to come. The following week I heard that my Westerley ‘100’ ride was reinstated! Nevertheless, the weekend was good training for the Polytechnic 12-hour later in the SEE MORE AT

month.

The advice I had been given for the ‘12’ was to take it steady until the finishing circuit and then see what’s left. Also, as I had given up eating solid foods on the bike, a mix of Complan and glucose was recommended – I drank eight pints.

On the day I used a 76-inch gear until I reached the circuit and got onto the big ring for the two hours or so and finished with 254 miles. My wife and parents helped out with all that Complan and my 2 litres of water. It

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wasn’t enough and we had to borrow more. I thought my ride was good but on that day Martyn Roach got competition record with 277 miles.

During the rest of the season I did a 1:0:22 one week, followed by a 58:56 the next, proving that ‘I could do it’ (albeit 12 months after the original intention). I was about 58th in the BAR and duly received my first national award, so it was a satisfactory first season.

A few thoughts about training: firstly, after my initial attempts at racing, I went on two or three club runs and coped OK. But I still thought that 25 miles was a good training ride.

Most of the season’s training was eight miles flat out to and from work on 68-inch fixed, with a few evening 25-mile rides to Box Hill. I did one all-day ride of about 170 miles on 76inch fixed to see what 12 hours on a bike would be like. After the saga of the ‘100s’ it was probably not necessary.

The things I remember and enjoyed were the early morning starts with almost no traffic and clear air – not the qualities found in a time trial these days – and the challenge of longer events.

Bob Porter

PAGE 15

GAMBLING ON … the right side Mick Gambling contributed around 5000 articles, race reports, interviews etc for Cycling Weekly, formerly Cycling. They encompassed a 40-year period, 1965-2004 and half that period, to 1985, included light-hearted pieces.

Many were topical for the period, although some are still relevant to the present time. A taste of these will be produced on a regular basis. Mick is still alive and pedalling in Norfolk.

From time to time there is talk of Great Britain switching to the righthand side of the road. Perhaps we may go forward a few years and look at Cycling’s editorial, just after the change-over date. At 11am on Sunday last Great Britain went Continental.

After an expensive and protracted period of preparation the signal was given by Liberal Prime Minister Jeremy Thorpe to “Go Right.”

There was an unexpectedly premature ending to his speech on the A1, as he was mown down by a cyclist suddenly swerving across the road.

On the O2 ‘25’ course at Blyth there was a complaint from Pete Watson that his 50-minute ride included two circuits of the far roundabout in opposite directions, because he arrived there at exactly 11 am.

Two marshals on the course, in trying to cross the dual carriageway in heavy traffic, became marooned in the central reservation and had to be fed with food flung from moving vehicles until dusk, when they were rescued by a pair of slow-moving tandems.

Inadvertently, they were taken to Leeds Indian Hospital for observation, but after the removal of several layers of carbon deposits were allowed to go home.

Misunderstandings occurred in the Essex Grand Prix road race when, at the appropriate time for changing SEE MORE AT

sides of the road, the bunch went over to the left!

Further problems arose when the chief commissaire, who had thought the new ruling would help him, drove backwards in sheer frustration over the brow of a hill on the wrong side of the road into a police car.

Members of the Veterans Time Trial Association, who had survived two world wars, said they had never seen anything like their disastrous 50-mile race in the Midlands.

An eye-witness report indicates that these elder statesmen of cycling, after 40 years on the left could not adjust quickly to the other side and tended to veer diagonally to and fro across the road, often crossing the front wheels of their vet colleagues proceeding in the opposite direction.

Of the sixty starters, twenty finished the event and the rest are as well as can be expected.

A number of collisions occurred between opposite ends of cyclists with their heads lowered and workmen painting new direction arrows on the road.

The manager of an insurance company was overheard to say that pedal-cycle premiums would be doubled until cyclists got used to the new system and then left, unless the

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P.I.B. notice this time.

The continent welcomed the news, and residents of Dieppe said they could now walk the streets safely, without British cyclists hurtling off the docks and up the left side of the road.

One aspect not realized by everyone was the necessity to swop brakes over on the handlebars, so that when turning left across the path of traffic a signal could be given with the left hand and the rear brake applied with the right hand. Those who overlooked this point were thrown into the air by sudden front brakes.

The cycle trade greeted the move enthusiastically and for no particular reason stated it was essential that chainrings should now be fitted on the left of the bike, so new frames should be purchased, and also a fresh set of tools because the old right-handed ones wouldn’t fit.

It is curious that with a Liberal Government we should be asked to ride anywhere but right down the centre!

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Ruth Eyles: a woman’s view into a man’s sport Time trialling began as a man’s sport. Many clubs would not allow women to join, let alone race. Women’s time trialling has for the most part been a novelty value sideshow alongside the main event and attitudes at times towards women’s racing have been nothing short of sexist. One woman, Ruth Eyles, is trying to change the face of women’s time trialling for the benefit of all women.

Ruth Eyles, Beacon RCC, is wellknown as the 2005 BBAR, and national ‘50’ and ‘100’ champion. She is a busy woman, running her own coaching business at: http://www.rutheyles.co.uk She’s also one of the people behind the new and exciting Midlands Rankings system for events on Kcourses and the Beacon Mountain TT, a historic high-profile 39 mile event that enjoys a full field, including many women.

But her favourite cause is the Midlands Women’s TT Series. Set up four years ago, the first year’s series was a selection of nominated club events where women were encouraged to come along, knowing that there would be other women there to race against and meet. It was low key, informal, enter on the day with no pressure and fairly successful. Rod Goodfellow donated 2 trophies in memory of wife Chris, a very strong local rider in 1970s. These were awarded for Best Improvement and Best Vet – initially the aim was not to focus on fastest performances but a Fastest Overall trophy has been added since.

The series has encouraged a pleasing number of new riders into the sport. It enabled local women in the district to SEE MORE AT

Ruth Eyles (right) during the BTT Championship 2009.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Brooke (So much better than Mr KimroySilks don’t you think?)

get to know each other better and gave racing more of a social aspect for women. Ruth says “the social aspect is so important for women, much more so than for men, or at least in a different way to men. The majority of people doing the sport are men so it’s easy for women to feel overwhelmed or intimidated. The series provides a support mechanism to encourage them into the sport. At the end of year, a social night was organised which was a great opportunity to meet off-field and chat.

There were 25 of us.”

The series now includes opens and club events, weekday evenings and weekends. Last year saw 45 women in one open event which is an amazingly high figure. Each woman only needs to complete three events to qualify so commitment to the series is not onerous. Some of the women who take part are mothers with young families so this is a really important point.

Ruth would love to see it spread across the country as a model but as it really is local and about local riders, what’s needed is each district to set up something similar. It’s not about event promotion either but about getting women to take part, to go to existing nominated events, and there’s no shortage of those to choose from. If you’re a woman and you know you can enter a race and be up against 1015 other women, then that race becomes much more attractive to you to enter. Yes of course, women can enter any event but it really can be a

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dispiriting experience to turn up and be one of just, say, 3 women at an event, especially if you don’t know those women and they are off at the opposite end of the field. Organisers of the targeted Midlands events are extremely happy as they’ve seen much bigger women’s fields.

Ruth came into the sport late. In 1993, while at university, she began by buying a Mercian cycle because her new friends were keen cyclists.

She became a keen UK-based CTC tourist, then joined the Beacon RCC in 1997 and started to race. Ruth says “New women entering the sport may only want a 5-10 mile ride to start with, not a 60 miles balls-out ride. The dynamics of going on clubruns are very different for men and women too. Women want to socialise, know each other’s names.

Men don’t know each other’s names but are very competitive, comparing equipment. The motivation for each sex can be very different.”

To end the interview, I asked Ruth to tell me one strange fact about herself: “I once worked at Cadbury and was in charge of planning production of Crème Eggs. I would have been able to tell you the weight of every outer box containing 48 eggs and how many of those boxes fit onto a pallet. And no, Crème Eggs have not become smaller over the years.”

If a few women, and men, take Ruth’s words on time trialling to heart, the sport will be a richer one.

Sue Fenwick PAGE 17

Testing Times’ Inbox (aka the Letters page … or aka the Lettuce page) Why no letters?

Dear Testing Times I was wondering whether anyone reads your esteemed journal. The reason I ask this is that most magazines I read have a very lively ‘Letters’ page, and indeed when I was a young sprog trainee on a very respectable cycling magazine [aah – not so respectable these days! – Ed] we (ie the staff) used to write letters under suede de gnomes in order to strike up controversial correspondence.

The usual topics were things like ‘Should the RTTC and the BCF merge?’, ‘Please include 10s and 24-hour tts in the BBAR’, ‘Time trials shouldn’t be allowed on dragstrips’ and ‘Hilly time trials should be abolished’.

Off course, every time such a letter appeared there would be a deluge of replies from indignant readers, either disagreeing, agreeing or not caring at all. Such issues are these days resolved with ultra-scientific online polls as can be seen on one famous cycling magazine’s website thingy.

But I believe there is still room for a healthy letters page which has the effect of showing just how enthusiastic and involved the magazine’s readers are.

Perhaps Testing Times appeals to the more laconic (or shall we say lazy?) reader and so that’s why you don’t get any letters. Or perhaps the reason is that nobody reads your delightful little rag. If the latter is true, I just wonder why www.issuu.com shows Testing Times receiving up to 100,000 hits on some issues. Perhaps we should be told the truth.

Sir Edward Nobbly-Ghibli, Dyed-in-the-wool Cycling and Athletic Club Ltd ●If only we knew the answers to your questions we would answer them. Suffice it to say, you have before you our wonderful new letters page. But in fact, you are right, we do not get any letters. We get emails (this is the SEE MORE AT

21st century you know) and yours is the first letter we have ever received.

Therefore it not only gets pride of place as the first letter ever published in Testing Times, you also win the first prize that we have ever given – a pump. It is in fact a breast pump for which my wife, now aged 64, has no need.

Sent to the wrong mag Dear Sirs Well Mr Editor, what an astonishingly brilliant mag you’ve got there. How you manage to produce such astounding quality each week with that small team of editorial assistants who always seem to be testing bikes in the Vanatua Islands or riding sportives in even more exotic locations absolutely defeats me. But that is not the reason I’m writing.

I’m quite concerned about some of the drivel that has appeared in recent editions. First of all you have pages and pages of nutrition and health advice. If I wanted to know that stuff I’d buy Here’s Health or Health & Efficiency.

You also have pages upon pages of obscure medical advice to do with ligaments and knee swellings – information which should really appear in the BMJ Journal or Surgeons’ News. Then there are these endless articles about sportives and interviews with selected participants. For goodness sake, if I want to read about jumped-up celebrities I would purchase OK! or Gossip Weekly. I buy your mag in order to read about cycling.

I want pages about time trials, road races at home and abroad and even about touring in sunny Patagonia. I don’t mind product reviews – but endless reviews of bicycles that all come from the same mass production line in

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PAGE 18

Taiwan? No thanks! Like every club member I need my weekly shot of stuff about cycling. But I want it to be about all of cycling not just your own favourite corner.

future emails under your real name - I know who you are otherwise I’ll expose you to the world.

Now don’t tell me I can get that stuff (ie road race and time trial results) from the internet! If I wanted to I would – I could also get all the drivel and nonsense that you publish every week on the internet too. What I want is good wholesome cycling stuff about club folk, results, write ups on obscure events and a sense of excitement that will bring plenty of new people to my beloved sport.

Keep the Praise Coming

So I do hope that your new year’s resolution is to produce a magazine about cycling, not about bananas, ligaments, stretching, constipation and without pages and pages and pages and pages (yawn) about sportives.

H. England, Glasgow Road Wheelies ●Sorry Mr England, I think you should have sent this email to another publication.

Tossing Bananas Dear Ian I remember you as the guy who passed me on an E course during an ECCA hundred some years ago. Happily for me I won 3rd (or was it second?) best handicap but you went on and won the bloody event. Now I don’t have any complaints about that at all. You were very nice to me as you came past me at the speed of sound. And I loved it when you called out “I am To55er” but you must have misunderstood what I called out to you!

Dear Editorial Team I would like to congratulate you on a truly wonderful publication. There has never been a magazine quite like it in the English language and it is something that deserves its place in the rich annals of cycling ephemera. Where else would you find such great editing, such wonderful picture selection, such a great team of writers and so much knowledge about the historical aspects of time trialling?

Indeed, I find it sad that it is only available online.

Naturally, it should be in every bookstore in the land and in every cycle shop too. I know that there are those out there who are doing all they can to hasten the demise of time trialling, but with such a robust organ as yours, how will they ever succeed?

Looking at my vast collection of cycling magazines, your fabulous publication is reminiscent of the late great Jock Wadley’s Sporting Cyclist. Now there was a man who knew how to write and how to assemble a team that could produce stunning material month after month. I can truly say that you guys are fit to walk in the late Jock’s shoes.

Long may you continue!

Sic O’Phant, Wheel Suckers CC ●Thank you. If you or any other reader would like to write more words of praise, we can assure you that they will always be published. Indeed, the talented and extremely generous owner of Planet X may well give a prize of a brand new unused puncture patch to the writer of the nicest letter by the year’s end.

I finished the event with the bonk. Had I not bonked I would have been 20 minutes closer to your time and I would have won first (note that, FIRST!) handicap. But it was not to be. In fact what I called out to you was “Toss me a banana” but you obviously thought I was encouraging you to greater speeds and totally ignored the fact that I was in massive sugar deficit, out of food and about to die.

In the end it didn’t matter, because I still got a personal best out of it and won my club’s BAR to boot. Now I know you’ve won a few events in your time but there is one trophy that you have never got your hands on, and that’s my club’s BAR. However, my advice to you is that next time someone shouts words to the effect of ‘To55er’, look around for a second. They may need feeding.

I. Spye (by email) ●I remember it well, Mr Spye. But I would ask you to write SEE MORE AT

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NOB OFF ... Yer Chrono Chrono up close – Sounds like a watch ...

space as Testing Times continues to evolve like a revolving crankset.

The picture below shows the other side of the Chrono ... sadly it is not finished in white.

Well it’s been on the market for some time but let’s look at this discus-like UFO crankset close up.

The Zipp Vuma Chrono has had a little custom job to match the owner’s project which is under way.

Note that the black alloy chain ring is now attached by nine little screws that use a torque type allen key which, surprisingly, holds the ring on very tightly indeed. The key factor is not to over tighten these little screws. The outer chain ring pictured has 55 teeth, but there are also options of 53 and 54. I’m sure the geeks out there know this already or have visited the Zipp website at some point.

It takes an inner chain ring (that’s if you need one) using 4 secure large chain ring bolts and spacers.

This good looking lock ring keeps a 10mm allen key bolt in place. This is the part that is attached to the axle. The left hand crank is a one piece arrangement.

The pedal threads are very neatly recessed and any brand of pedal looks good when fully inserted and tightened up.

Available crank lengths range from 167.5 through to 180mm. The sample shown here are 177.5.

It used to have a 42-tooth inner ring which I immediately discarded

The custom paint job was carried out through Parlee Cycles http://www.parleecycles.com/ who built the frame to which this crankset is attached. I’ll tell you more about the complete bike later this year. So keep watching this SEE MORE AT

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Pictured above are the rather fetching gold cups which indicate that they have ceramic bearings fitted. Once they are finally adjusted and tuned these make the cranks spin for a good long while.

The left hand crank has a stylish 30mm section and a narrow 10mm width which is beautifully shaped to make it very aero Here is the uniquely sculptured castellated part of the crank axle that accepts the chain wheel part of the set.

Notice the well-sealed ceramic bearings. Here is a useful tip: Before you feed the crank axle through the bottom bracket cups once they are screwed in place, is to put the left hand axle crank in your freezer (preferably a Whirlpool!!!) for 20 minutes so the axle part has a chance to contract when very cold. Once done, remove from the freezer and you’ll find that it slides very easily through both bottom bracket cups without the use of wooden mallets, sledge hammers, rubber Durex (Featherlite is best) covered tools and so on.

The Zipp Vuma Chrono is extremely stiff. When I tried it briefly on the rollers there was hardly any flex. It looks good to the eye whether it be the normal naked version or my unique custom jobby as shown here.

Sir Nob of Two Ghiblis

Sir Nob of Two Ghiblis supports equal rights for vegetables - ”I love carrots”, says Sir Nob SEE MORE AT

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