Spin Cycle Mag - Issue 9 by SPIN CYCLE MAGAZINE

CYCLE MAGAZINE

ISSUE 09

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SPIN

Editor James Maloney james@spincyclemag.com Picture Editor Dan Kenyon dan@spincyclemag.com Contributors Paul Francis Cooper Brian Sweeny Laurence Fryer-Taylor Design Uniform www.uniform.net Thanks go to: Mark McNally Peter Hodges & Grace Metcalf at Sweetspot Dave ‘Chopper Guy’ Sims Tim Kennaugh, from Tim Kennaugh Coaching & Condor JLT Heather Bamforth & Jo Blakeley

Tour de Chopper

Dave Sims gets ready to take on the entire 2015 Tour de France route - on his Raleigh Chopper

Return of The Macca

Mark McNally returns to British soil following his Tour of Britain KOM win in 2014

The Italian Job

Paul Cooper stops by the famous Church of Maddona del Ghisallo - the patron saint of cyclists during a visit to the Il Lombardia

The After-Life

Tim Kennaugh reveals the highs and lows of living life after being a pro bike rider All information contained in Spin Cycle Magazine is for information purposes only and is, to the best of our knowledge, correct at the time of going to press. Spin Cycle Magazine cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies that occur. Readers are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this magazine. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Spin Cycle Magazine a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including all licensed editions worldwide and in any physical or digital format throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Spin Cycle Magazine nor its staff, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. In relation to any medical queries, the advice given is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner and we strongly advise all readers with health problems to consult a doctor.

Canal Kerin

Brian Sweeny braves the freezing temperatures of Glasgow’s underground Canal Kerin Racing

Brit of Alright, la

Sun, sea and a Scouser winning the King of The Mountain’s jersey - not a bad way to start the 2014 Tour of Britain in Liverpool

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COVER: Tour of Britain by Dan Kenyon ABOVE: KoM Mark McNally makes his way through the team cars by Dan Kenyon

Killer Hill

The ‘Old’ Horseshoe - enough to strike fear into even the most skinniest of cyclists

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TOUR DE CHOPPER Words & Photography JAMES MALONEY

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tour de chopper

IR BRADLEY Wiggins and Chris Froome put themselves through hell for 21 days, covering nearly than 3,500-kilometres and riding continuous for nearly 90 hours each to win their respective titles at the Tour de France. Now a 36-year-old fitness coach from Halsall, near Southport, Merseyside, is looking to go one better by riding the entire 2015 Tour de France route two days before the professionals – only he will be doing it on his trusty Raleigh Chopper, worth just £150. Dave Sims, who runs cycling fitness company Performance Coach, is no stranger to tackling the gruelling mountains of France on his Chopper. Last year, he completed the L’Etape du Tour – a single stage of the famous Tour

de France for amateur cyclists – and even managed to finish in the top 20 per cent with a time of 7hrs 52mins. Sims, who rides for H.Middletons Cycling Club based in Ormskirk, said: “I always do the Etape du Tour L’Etape du Tour every year and this year, I was suffering from a bit of a lack of motivation because I didn’t want to do it on my road bike again or on my mountain bike, so I started thinking ‘what can I do to make the Etape more fun?’. So I thought ‘I’ll do it on a kids bike’ to make it a bit more of a challenge.” His epic ride helped raise more than £2,000 for Autism Initiatives

tour de chopper

RIGHT: Dave Sims, a fitness coach from Halsall, near Southport, is aiming to complete the entire 2015 Tour de France route on his £150 Raleigh Chopper

Earlier this year, he completed the L’Etape du Tour and even managed to finish in the top 20 per cent with a time of 7hrs 52mins - all on his £150 Raleigh Chopper

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tour de chopper

and one of the charity’s business ventures based in Ainsdale, MeCycle. Naturally, he wanted to help raise more money for other charities – this time Help the Heroes – and what better way to do it then jump back on his Chopper and ride the entire route of the Tour de France this July. This year’s Tour starts in Utrecht, Holland, on July 4, before finishing along the ChampsÉlysées on July 26. It will cover a total of 3,344-kilometres and include the legendary climb of Alpe d’Huez, with it’s 21 famous hairpin bends. Dave will not be doing it alone, though. He will be joined by sports masseur Mo, bus driver, chef and psychologist Jonathan and mechanic Chris to form his own version of Team Sky fittingly dubbed ‘Team Chop’. JM: First big question - why a Chopper? DS: I have always trained on my mountain bike and I have always liked to explore different territory, jumping off the road, but the main thing about the mountain bike is that it is heavy and I have always got a lot training-wise from training on a heavy bike. So the Chopper is essentially the next step forward. It has got a smaller rear wheel, it’s heavier, less aerodynamic and it’s the same ethos of trying

to make it harder on myself. I saw that video of a guy going up Mont Ventoux on a Chopper and thought ‘why not’. He had a Mark II Chopper and just went up one mountain, so for him it was just a two hour ride. I thought ‘well, if he can do that then I can do three mountains on it’. That’s where it all started. JM: So which mountains did you go up? DS: The Etape du Tour this year was the Tourmalet from the east side - about 12-miles of climbing and the Hautacam to finish off with along with the other lumps and bumps in-between. JM: So how did the Chopper handle? More importantly, how much damage did it do to your legs? DS: Well, it was a case of conditioning myself to being on that bike. The mountains didn’t take it too much out of me because I had a really good mileage over May, June and leading into the Etape. I had the miles in my legs and was down to my lightest bodyweight that I have ever been, which was just under 11st. I think, really, that I just got used to being on the Chopper and learning to ride it efficiently. The bike weights 16-kilos, then add on top of that all the gear on board and me, which is why I had to lose weight. Once you’ve got your bodyweight down and got some miles in your legs, you can

ABOVE: Dave has been hammering the hills round West Lancashire in preparation for his big challenge this year

tour de chopper

get up the mountains - not dead fast, but you can get up them. JM: It must have turned a few heads when you were doing the Etape on the Chopper? DS: Yeah, it did actually. Quite a lot. I got a lot of company over the 7hrs 52mins it took me almost too much company. As

people were chatting to me, I was trying to concentrate going up the Tourmalet in the rain and while trying to get into the zone, but people were just happily chatting to me. The problem with the Chopper’s handling is that because it has a 16-inch front wheel, if I turned to the side to

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tour de chopper

speak to someone then the bike tends to turn that way too. I got a lot of support and there were no egos about - even from some of the roadies that I was overtaking. JM: That was going to be my next question. Did you actually manage to go past anyone on the Chopper? DS: Yeah, I was in the top 20 per cent of climbers that day and I came more than halfway through the field, so I overtook a lot of people that day. JM: I bet they weren’t too happy seeing a guy on a Chopper come whizzing past? DS: To be honest, they were a little bit shocked. At the start, I went out like the clappers so I think everyone thought that by the time that I got to the Tourmalet then my legs would be goosed, but I was actually alright. At the Hautacam, I felt really strong. I hadn’t gone too fast and just keep it steady at about 140bpm the whole ride. I think that everyone who did the Etape last year suffered a bit on the descent down from the Tourmalet. It was pouring down with rain and my brakes didn’t work. With chrome rims, the brakes are terrible. I was going down the Tourmalet with my front brake on continually ready to unclip in case I couldn’t make a corner. So I lost a lot of time on the descents. JM: So what’s next? DS: Well, very good question.

LEFT: Dave has set his sights on completing the entire 2015 Tour de France route cobbles and cols included - on a £150 Chopper that still has the original Red Lion tyres

tour de chopper

I am already training for ‘the’ big event this year, which is the Tour de France. So I am going to do the entire tour, just as the professionals do, so 21 days. I have got a support crew already driving a motor-home and a chef. JM: And you’re planning to do that on the Chopper? Are you planning on doing just a day or the whole actual 2015 Tour route? DS: My Grand Depart will be in Holland on July 2, so I am going to do it two days before the professional, tackling the cobbles first. JM: So, let me get this right, you’re planning on taking on the cobbles, then go right round France before taking on the massive mountains all on a Raleigh Chopper? And not just any Chopper bike, a bloody old one at that? DS: Yeah, that’s a Mark III Chopper, so it has got the same Sturmey Archer hub, an eight speed and a three speed, but everything else is authentic. It even has the same Raleigh tyres it came with - the Red Lion tyres. Everything is the same, but it has got new crank arms on it. I don’t think a Chopper has ever done this sort of journey before. JM: What’s it next? Riding the Tour de France route on an unicycle? DS: Actually, I don’t think anyone has ever done that before either. I have got one in my gym, but I

think that I’ll stick to the Chopper for now. JM: So what do you club-mates from H.Middleton’s think about it? DS: They’ve always been used to me coming out on the mountain bike in the A-team or doing the hill climb competition on the mountain bike, too. JM: But you must have gotten a fair few funny comments when you turned up on the first clubrun on your Chopper? DS: I did, yeah. Matt [Middleton] in particular was quite amused. I actually remember the first clubrun, it was the A-team that I went out with and we went straight up Parbold Hill. On our first ride, I just waited patiently in the pack until we crossed over the bridge at the bottom of Parbold, then I decided - just for fun - to launch a Chris Froome attack. Or a suicide attack, as I called it. It was quite funny, as I think everyone had expected to drop me before we got to the foot of the hill, but little did they know how fast that bike could climb and I think that I actually got a personal record up Parbold. In the end, I think that I was about third to the top out of the entire A-team and, after that, noone was laughing any more. For further information about Chopper Dave’s epic challenge, visit teamchop.co.uk

pro rider

RETURN OF THE MACCA Words LAURENCE FRYER-TAYLOR Photography DAN KENYON

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return of the macca

SPLIT second. That’s all it takes for someone’s luck to change in bike racing. One moment, a rider can be top of the world; next they’re on the ground looking up. No-one knows just how quickly fortunes can shift than Mark McNally. Last time we spoke to him, he had just come off the back of a disappointing run of bad luck at the Prudential London-Surrey and was preparing himself for a shot at the Tour of Britain. ‘Taking what he could get’ was the aim, but with the first stage set in his home-town of Liverpool, the backdrop was perfect for what would become an incredible few stages of bike racing. Cheered on by a huge local crowd, which was bolstered by

family, friends and members of Liverpool Century, alike, Mark staked his claim on the polka dot jersey by winning the King of The Mountains - a special moment for anyone involved in cycling in the North West. He even confesses to surprising himself on stage two, beating his old friend Ian Bibby, from Madison-Genesis, on the first KOM of the day. Despite facing world-tour competition, the Crosby lad held on to the white and green jersey for the entirety of the race despite crashing on the final day – a moment that he calls a ‘stupid amateur mistake’.

women on tour

ABOVE: Macca and his team-mates stroll to the stage for the team presentation in Liverpool One RIGHT: Mark looking very determined after retaining his KoM jersey

Cheered on by a huge local crowd, which was bolstered by family and friends, Mark staked his claim on the polka dot jersey by winning the King of The Mountains

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return of the macca

After five years racing and living in Belgium with An Post, Mark has now moved furniture into his new home with his Belgian girlfriend, Pia. So while he was enjoying a break in the season, we caught up with him to chat about how the KOM jersey was won; end of season hangovers; his exciting new plans with Madison-Genesis and the transitional period he currently finds himself in. LFT: First thing’s first, congratulations on the King of The Mountains win at the Tour of Britain. Having raced the Tour for the past few years now, it seems to keep attracting bigger teams and bigger names, particularly last year. Has the race itself got noticeably harder? MMc: Erm, yeah. Last year was probably one of the hardest races that I’ve done. The stages were a lot longer and it was the best option for the big guys preparing for the World Championship – Kwiatkowski won and he rode the Tour of Britain – so for me, I think, it’s turned into a massive race in its own right. LFT: Did that make the KOM jersey more rewarding? Knowing there were a lot of big world tour teams coming down for it? MMc: I don’t know – I just think it was very enjoyable. They’re all special riders in their own way and you still work

LEFT: Mark looks a little apprehensive as he spies the large crowds waiting for the team presentation ABOVE: McNally waves to his family and friends

just as hard as anyone else in the peloton. Maybe to people looking in from the outside, there’s more prestige there but it is just a special race in itself. LFT: What about getting the jersey in Liverpool? That must have been a special moment? MMc: It was mad. All of my family were there; my girlfriend came up from Belgium; everyone from the club was out and about for me, too. It was surreal. We finished the day; did the press conference; went back to the hotel and you’re just there scratching your head thinking, what happened? But it was nice, for sure. The stage around town - I’ve never rode around there much – but it was where I grew up and I’ve had days out in town and that. A few of my friends live just off Sefton

Park, as well, so it was special. LFT: During our last interview, you mentioned that your start to the season had been difficult – the change to a new coach, getting ill – but if someone had said during that period that you’d be winning the KOM jersey at the Tour of Britain, would you have taken it? MMc: Erm, I don’t know. I just think that’s life. Just because we’re professional bike riders doesn’t take us away from being normal people. I think normal people have good times and they have bad times, like. Everyone goes through bad times and then nine times out of 10, you’ll come out the other side just fine. So I don’t think it’s any different to someone having a bad day. Just because you have a bad

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return of the macca

ABOVE: McNally, right, surges ahead in the familiar surroundings of Sefton Park accompanied by Adam Blythe, left.

return of the macca

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return of the macca

day doesn’t make it a bad life, y’know? LFT: That’s very modest of you. I have to ask though – and this might be embarrassing – when you went down on the final stage, what was going through your mind? MMc: There were about five of us in the break and I think it was one of the young lads from Team GB who wanted to miss a turn. Because he wasn’t going to come through the line, there was a gap, which I was looking for, I turned round and Liam Holohan – who’s my team-mate this year – his wheel was drifting as I was looking behind. My front wheel caught his rear and I overbalanced. I thought to myself, ‘oh crap, this is gonna hurt’. I’ve crashed the same way before and it was a stupid, stupid amateur mistake. There was nothing over my shoulder and I wasn’t looking where I was going. After I went down, the first thing I did was stand up and make sure the bike was alright and got going again. It was more bruised pride than anything. LFT: I can imagine. Luckily, the KOM was pretty secure by then. When you went into the tour, was there a plan to win the KOM jersey from the beginning or did things just fall into place? MMc: Well, at An Post especially for the Tour of Britain

- we always planned to ride aggressively because we know that in a massive bunch sprint or on a big mountain – like the Tumble – we’re not going to win. We’ll try our luck in the break, and if the break sticks we’ve got a result, like. It was more that we were all doing our job in the team trying to get in the break and a few things fell into place on the first three days. I took a bit of confidence from the second day as

ABOVE: Mark, second from left, tucked away in the breakaway group as it hurtles down Upper Parliament Street and back onto The Strand during Stage One of the 2015 Tour of Britain in Liverpool

well, beating my mate Ian Bibby up some of the climbs. I think we were on the first KOM, and I just pipped him to it. I remember turning to him laughing saying ‘I think that’s the first time I’ve beaten you up a hill, Bibbs’. Then the next day, the SaxoTinkoff lad sprinting with me for the points wasn’t so friendly – he beat me – but I held onto my lead. Then, after that, it was more about consolidation. I kept trying

the breaks, but I think I used all my luck on the first few days. Well congratulations LFT: again, it was great seeing you get the jersey in Liverpool. Looking forward to this season, how are you feeling about the move to Madison-Genesis? MMc: Well, after five years at An Post, I decided that I wanted a change – I’m looking forward to it. I just needed a change of scenery.

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return of the macca

ABOVE: Mark peaks from the back of the breakaway group as they ascend Upper Parliament Street LEFT: McNally battles to take all the KoM points on offer during the opening stage in his home-town of Liverpool

If An Post were a business, it’d be family run with Kurt the manager, then there’s Niko and the mechanic Freddie, who is like an uncle losing his mind, but would bend over backwards to help you. They’re a nice bunch of people, though, and sometimes the Belgian mentality can be quite hard. Kurt said to me that he’d love to keep me on the team, but for my own sake I needed to move. Even though I’ve done well for the team and he would have loved to keep me, Kurt had my best interests at heart. I’ve had a great five years there and I’m very grateful for the time spent at the team. LFT: Are you excited about coming back to the UK then? MMc: I’m looking forward to it, like. It’s going to be a big transition but I’m excited. It’s like they say, variety is the spice of life, so it’s

time to get out of my comfort zone. People were starting to look at me like I was part of the woodwork at An Post, so I think you need to stand up and make yourself counted when that happens. LFT: So have you got plans to race in the Pearl Izumi Tour Series? MMc: Yeah, the Tour Series and there’s more UCI races this year – two 1.2’s, there’s the one day in Wales, RideLondon, the Yorkshire stage race and the Tour of Britain again, which should be all exciting. LFT: What’s the set up like for Madison-Genesis next season? MMc: My good friend Ian Bibby has left, Andy Tennant has left too, but they’ve kept a good core of riders as well as additions like me, Matt Cronshaw, Martyn Irvine and a few others. It should be good.

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return of the macca

ABOVE: Nice way to end a great day of racing in your home-town with the climberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s jersey firmly on your back. Well done, Macca

return of the macca

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return of the macca

LFT: Have you pinpointed any that you’d like to do well in or are you going to take it as it comes? MMc: I think that I need to look at the calendar and take some notes, but I just love racing - I’ll just take whatever I can get. Saying that, I think in this day and age, you need to really sit down and think about things. I really need to take some time with my new coach – Jon Sharples at Trainsharp – and go through it, I think. I worked with him for the second half of the year, including the Tour of Britain, and it seemed to work out,. Maybe I’ll make some more goals along those lines. LFT: What about training, what’s it like at the moment? How are things going with Trainsharp? MMc: Slow steady miles and turbo work in heavy gears to build strength at the moment. Jon sets me a weekly plan every week. With cycling, you have to be very self-disciplined and that’s what I was lacking in the summer. I was lacking that plan. When you get like that you become quite stale and have nothing to do. When you have a strategy, like I have at the moment, it becomes like a job – a proper 9-to-5 – especially if Jon has me doing a double day. Maybe it’s just me, but I find now that if anything changes with my plan I struggle to accommodate it, but for my own

return of the macca

sanity I like to think that other elite athletes are like that too. LFT: And how was the offseason? What plans did you have when the racing season was over? MMc: Once the season finished, I went back to England for a few weeks to see mates and family, just to enjoy it, like. The season finishes and it’s always an anticlimax I find. Everyone looks forward to it, but then you go on one night out and have a terrible hangover the day after and you think, ‘what was the point in that?’. You spend too much money and end up with a sore head. Then after a while, I start missing my bike. I suppose it’s a sad obsession really but I enjoy it. LFT: I think that’s something we can all relate to. How has the transfer back home from Belgium been? MMc: It’s alright, moving anywhere is a bit of a stress, isn’t it? It’s still a process that’s stressing me out at the moment. At the moment, it feels very similar to what I knew before – coming home in the off-season – so I don’t think I’ll notice much of a change until the season starts anyway. One big change from Belgium is that someone smashed the windscreen of my car, which is never what you want really. Apart from that, it’s been alright.

ABOVE: McNally takes a well deserved swig of water as girlfriend Pia checks out one of the prizes on their way to the post-race press conference

LFT: I guess that doesn’t happen much in Belgium then? MMc: Nah, but it was at my mum and dad’s house in Crosby – I don’t think it happens in Crosby much either. Apart from that, it’s been fine. With the move, we have everything stored at my aunt’s house, so it’s a slow process of moving everything to the new place. I think for me, with the way

I work, I go through my training in my head - I’ll do this at that time and that at this time, and if anything changes, I can feel my head going ‘shit’ I was meant to do a turbo session this afternoon, but I’m stressing so much about getting everything moved today that it’s been pushed aside. LFT: Are you still getting on well

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return of the macca

LEFT: He may be a bit on the shy side, but Mark was definitely the star of the day in his home-town of Liverpool

with training then, or has the move had an affect on your sessions? MMc: I’m still getting the quality in, but sometimes real life takes over. I had to go to a funeral for one of the Liverpool Century guys, Ray Myers. He unfortunately had a crash and obviously that takes priority over everything. You have to show your respect for someone who you’ve grown up with in the Century, who was always cheering me on and giving me advice. When you have to do

a lot to learn about riding bikes. She’s beginning to understand the recovery needed and the amount of graft we put in to race bikes on a daily basis. LFT: Do you guys train together or keep your riding lives separate? MMc: I’m a control freak and these days everyone has set power zones and that, so sometimes we’ll just do an easy ride and head to the café. I think anyone who has worked with a

Cycling was a passion before it was ever a job for me, a huge passion, but I like the fact I can come home to my girlfriend, put the bikes away and just be normal people together. real world stuff like that, being a bike rider – thinking you’ve got a million things to do in a day when all you have to do is ride your bike – takes a back seat. LFT: All of our thoughts are with Ray, his family and the Century at the moment. How is Pia – your girlfriend – finding the move? MMc: She’s signed for VelosureStarley-Primal and she’s adapting well. She was working full-time in Belgium and racing part-time, but now she’s full-time on the bike. She’s doing OK. Well, it seems that way to myself, but it’s also a culture shock. Pia’s gone from working 9-to-5 in Belgium to working with the team and Jon at Trainsharp. Plus it’s only her third year riding, so she still has

spouse or girlfriend knows that you need that distance when you go to ‘work’ in inverted commas. She doesn’t mind riding with other people, but for me, if I’ve got proper training to do, I’ll just get on with it myself. It keeps me focused that way too, if we were to train more together it would blur the lines between working life and social life. Cycling was a passion before it was ever a job for me, a huge passion, but I like the fact I can come home to my girlfriend, put the bikes away and just be normal people together. LFT: Cheers Mark. Best of luck with the move. MMc: Nice one, take it easy.

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dirty pretty things

ABOVE: Mark gets a big hug off his mum... bless, while girlfriend Pia is left holding the race mascot and flowers RIGHT: If Carlsberg did bike racing, this would probably be the happiest pro cyclist in the world. Well done, Macca - weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all proud of you

dirty pretty things

Words & Photography PAUL COOPER

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THE ITALIAN JOB

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the italian job

N A competition to decide which sport has the highest regard for its traditions, cycling would have to be a podium contender. Today’s world of professional cycling is modern, high-tech, money-focused and slick. Yet the seemingly endless supply of cycling history books, welter of fans who appear to have read most of them and their almost reverential regard for bygone races and race heroes, mean that, in cycling, historic past often feels only a hair’s breadth from 21st century present. And if there is a place and time in the world of cycling where the two seem to edge even closer, that place is at the crest of a remote mountain road high above Lake Como in Northern Italy. Known as the Ghisallo Pass,

it crosses the mountainous peninsula that divides Lake Como to connect the elegant lakeside town of Bellagio with the historic city of Como. The time is Il Lombardia race day - the arduous end of season monument sometimes lyrically called the ‘Tour of the Falling Leaves’. The crest of the Ghisallo Pass is reached after a tough six-mile climb from Bellagio. Snaking its way from the lake and negotiating more than 20 hairpin bends, it offers tantalising glimpses of the Italian and Swiss Alps until the final ramped section enters the hamlet of Magreglio.

the italian job

ABOVE & RIGHT: Inside the chapel, every inch - including the altar - is packed to the rafters with various memorabilia from across the decades

The time is Il Lombardia race day - the arduous end of season monument sometimes lyrically called the ‘Tour of the Falling Leaves’

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the italian job

As it does, it passes the small wayside chapel of the Madonna del Ghisallo. Dominated by a tall bell tower, the chapel - and one of only a handful of buildings in Magreglio - marks the crest of the climb as the road levels before its long and steady descent towards Como. This is no ordinary wayside chapel. No matter what changes are made to the demanding route of Il Lombardia, it always includes the Ghisallo Pass. Here often proves crucial to the outcome of the overall race and the peal of the chapel’s bells, perched directly above the final stages of the climb, is synonymous with announcing the arrival of the riders to the many waiting fans on the mountain and is an annual feature of Italian sporting life. Visited by no less than three popes, the chapel is a place of pilgrimage for cyclists throughout the world who have adopted the Madonna as their patroness. The chapel’s origins can be traced to the 12th Century. Legend has it that, crossing the remote mountain pass, the Count of Ghisallo was threatened by bandits. Making his escape, he sought refuge at a wayside shrine to the Madonna. He prayed desperately to her until she appeared causing his attackers to flee. Deeply grateful, he made and honoured a pledge

the italian job

LEFT: Bust of Fr Ermelindo Vigano in Grounds of Madonna del Ghisallo Chapel Overlooking Lake Como

to enhance the shrine. In 1645, the small church was built and a painting of the Madonna and Child installed. It still hangs above the altar today. The reputation of the Madonna as a protector of vulnerable travellers grew with every local retelling of the legend. But it was not until 1905, when the specific association with cycling began to emerge. It was then that the first edition of the Giro di Lombardia (as it was then called) passed the chapel, making known the chapel’s existence to cyclists and cycling fans throughout Italy. The location of the chapel, at the highest point of a tough climb, with breathtaking views to Lake Como, Switzerland and Milan, as well its association with protecting travellers, endeared it to cyclists. They began to make devotions of their own and prayed at the chapel for racing success and for protection from the perils of their sport - leaving votive offerings, including race jerseys, bikes - on which they had won major races and other sporting trophies. By the golden age of Italian cycling in the 1940s, the chapel and its growing collection of

cycling artefacts, as well as its devotional link to the sport, were becoming well-known in Italy. Crucially, it was then that a Jesuit priest, Father Ermelindo Vigano, began his 41-year period as Magreglio’s parish priest. A devoted cycling fan, he welcomed cyclists to the chapel - some top Italian riders even married there - and he established a small cycling museum. In October 1949, he made a successful application to Pope Pius XII, another cycling fan, to formally decree the Madonna of Ghisallo the ‘Patron Saint of Italian Cyclists.’ The Pontiff also blessed the chapel’s sanctuary lamp at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Entitled the ‘Permanent Flame of the Ghisallo,’ the flame was then transported by cyclists, including rivals Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, in a relay ride to its mountaintop destination. Inside the chapel is like few other places of worship - both a shrine to the Madonna del Ghisallo and a veneration of the history of the sport of cycling. Its walls are weighted with cycling memorabilia - both fascinating, and deeply touching. Bikes that record a rivalry that

By the golden age of Italian cycling in the 1940s, the chapel and its growing collection of cycling artefacts, as well as its devotional link to the sport, were becoming well-known in Italy

spin cycle magazine

the italian job

ABOVE: Stellar cast of race jerseys adorn the walls inside the chapel

the italian job

spin cycle magazine

the italian job

once divided Italy, those of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, sit close to each other; a bike ridden by Eddy Mercks in the Tour de France is there, as is the bike ridden by Alfonsina Strada. Little known now, in 1924, Strada, aged 34, became the only woman ever to ride in the Giro d’Italia, completing every inch of the 2,245-mile race without team support. There is a poetic tribute to Marco Pantani. And, perhaps most poignantly of all, there is the bike ridden by Como’s son, Fabio Casartelli, on the day of his tragic death on the on the Col de Portet D’Aspet in the 1995 Tour de France. On race day this year, in true mountain-top form, the crowd was deep, noisy, multi-national and poised to surge to the riders when the chapel bells heralded their arrival. Amongst them was a group of Scottish riders combining a cycling trip to the area with support for Il Lombardia. Jim Watson, from Lanarkshsire’s Coatbridge Clarion, said: “The climb up here was tough, but great and when you see the history in the chapel it’s just fantastic. “To see the bikes and jerseys with the great riders names on them, it’s phenomenal. It’s just great history.” For the many riders from local Italian clubs, there was an

unmistakable feeling of special annual reunion - a time to meet up with old club mates and review the season. Davide Perere, from Pedale Bellanese of Como, said: “Every time there is a race of importance, like the Giro d’Italia or Il Lombardia, Pedale Bellanese riders come up here. “The chapel is made special by the bicycles and jerseys of famous riders throughout history. It is full of soul and significance.” A significant experience of another kind belonged to Radu and Elena Arsene, from Magreglio. Married on the day of Il Piccolo Lombardia (the shorter race for under-23 professional riders, which runs on the day preceding Il Lombardia) they made a detour to the busts of Fausto Coppi, Alfredo Binda and Gino Bartali, which guard the chapel entrance, and where Radu, a keen cyclist, was keen to record their marriage vows. This October, Il Lombardia was won by Ireland’s 28-eight yearold, Dan Martin. After crossing the finish line in dramatic fashion in Bergamo, he spoke warmly about the traditions and beauty of the race and the part played by the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel in perpetuating that beauty. Telling of his many prior visits, he described passing the chapel during the race as a very special experience. So it’s all there - spectacular

the italian job

ABOVE: First a prayer then rest - Entreaty at Madonna del Ghisallo Chapel

landscape, sport, spirituality, excitement, camaraderie and community. All intertwined with the commemoration of fallen riders and celebration of a bygone, golden age of cycling. The mesh of the past with the present was the great theme of the American writer William Faulkner.

In interview, he said: “There is no such thing really as was because the past is. It is a part of every man, every woman, and every moment.” Each year, as the Tour of the Falling Leaves draws the European proseason towards its close, his words ring true with the peal of chapel bells high above Lake Como.

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the italian job

BELOW: A local club holds its annual award ceremony quite fittingly inside the grounds at the Ghisallo Pass RIGHT: Not just for remembering the past, the Madonna del Ghisallo Chapel is also for looking towards the future as Radu and Elena Arsena, from Magreglio, celebrate their wedding

the italian job

true brit

THE AFTER LIFE Words & Photography DAN KENYON

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the after life

T’S A warm evening in September, just a day or so after the close of the Tour of Britain. Tim Kennaugh is passing through Liverpool, where the week-long race kicked off in 2014, on his way back home to the Isle of Man. We’ve arranged to meet at a bar and Tim arrives wearing an extra small shirt, sporting shades and towing two black hardcases that sport large white ‘Kennaugh’ stickers. It’s not been long since Tim stopped racing for Rapha Condor JLT and moved into a job supporting the team. Like his brother, Peter Kennaugh, Tim was a superb rider - perhaps even better than his younger brother at his peak - but it all started to unravel in 2011. DK: I’ve read the great piece Tom Southam wrote about you in Inside Out [a 2011 book on Rapha Condor Sharp youth riders]. He talked about you being diagnosed with a thyroid condition and how it effectively finished your racing career. How is it all going and what is the treatment you are on now? TK: 175mgs of Thyroxine per day – four tablets. I still have some symptoms, but it’s all there is at the moment. DK: What is it exactly – an overactive Thyroid? TK: Under active, but the situation would be the same either way, as if it was over-active, they would take it out and I would be on similar supplements to the ones I take now.

DK: Are the tablets helping? TK: Yes, but of course I don’t push my body so much as I did when I was racing. I don’t train like I used to, so that helps too. When I was still racing, I had to check my levels and then change my dose every day to try and compensate for the damage that I was doing to my body. When I packed in racing, though, it stabilized and I’ve haven’t needed to change the dose since. It comes and goes. I’ve kind of got used to it all, but the symptoms are chronic fatigue, dry skin, brittle hair, depression - it affects every cell in the body somehow.

the after life

RIGHT: Tim Kennaugh, older brother of Team Sky’s Pete Kennaugh, was a superb rider himself - perhaps even better than his sibling - until things started to unravel in 2011 due to an over-active Thyroid

DK: Cycling is incredibly taxing on the body without an illness, so you must have been really suffering by the time you were diagnosed? TK: I’d had a really good winter – probably my best ever – just smashing the miles with Pete. Then I started going to races and getting in the top twenties, really getting in the mix. Then it all went wrong. I was back in Italy racing for an Italian team full of Polish riders, so it would be Polish TV in the house all the time. No-one would talk to me and I was too far away from Pete to train with him. I felt pretty isolated and then the weight problems created by the under-active thyroid kicked in. We had to weigh ourselves each morning and put the result on

Like his brother, Peter Kennaugh, Tim was a superb rider - perhaps even better than his younger brother at his peak - but it all started to unravel in 2011

spin cycle magazine

the after life

ABOVE: The Master and his pupil - Tim, left, with his mentor and good friend, John Herety, right, who has kept Tim on the straight and narrow more than a few times, as well as encouraging him to continue developing his talents elsewhere in cycling

the after life

spin cycle magazine

the after life

a chalk board for the manager. Depending on the day’s weight, the manager would allow a full or half pizza in the evening. Slowly but surely my weight started going up and up. I was eating really well, training hard, but riders who would’ve never caught me hills before started coming by me on climbs and then I wasn’t finishing races. Race-after-race, no matter how hard I pushed on the pedals, my legs just felt like lead. I was doing no carb days to try and keep the weight off. Then getting so depressed when it wasn’t happening, I would crack and go down the café with WiFi and eat seven pain-au-chocolat in a row and drinking 12 lattes. The owner of the café rang my manager and snitched on me. DK: And you thought you’d just hit your ceiling in the sport? TK: Yes. I called my mum up and told her I was quitting. My mum and dad were totally supportive. They never forced Pete and I to take up cycling and my mum only started cycling after meeting my dad. I thought ‘fair enough - I’m just not good enough” so I called Keith Lambert, the GB manager, and said I was quitting. He said ‘just come and do one race with us” so I did. It was over my home roads, a race I’d really targeted earlier in the season and I was just going out the back on the climbs. I came down a

descent I’d been riding for years and turned off down a side road and just sat there. Swifty and my brother were there around me and I was just sitting there with my numbers on. I moved back home and my GP proscribed anti-depressants. He said I was just low from having to give up cycling. I knew it wasn’t that and so I looked back through all my old blood tests and found a low thyroid result from a couple of years back. I’d been retested at the time and found to be normal, so the team assumed it was just a bad test. The truth was that I’d always had an under-active thyroid. It was just deteriorating as I got older and affecting both my energy and recovery moreand-more as I moved up the professional levels. I went to the Worlds in Copenhagen, when Cav won. I saw Rod Ellingworth there. I was four stone over my race weight and Rod said ‘what are you doing? You need to get out on your bike’. It was still thought to be chronic fatigue at this point, but John had offered me another year as a rider and, after running tests, I received a call from the doctor, who told me my thyroid was smashed. It’s a condition other people in the family had had so it all made sense at last. DK: So then what? TK: I went on the piss for a while

the after life

ABOVE: Tim’s good looks and easy going nature belie an astute tactical knowledge and first-hand experience of what it takes to be a professional cyclists

DK: Your Robbie Williams leaving Take That lost year? TK: According to a few mates, I’d ballooned into Diego Maradonna – but that said I come from a cycling family and so it was perhaps relative. DK: You’d been forced to quit racing. What was next? TK: John had said he would support me for another year as a rider or I could do another job

for the team, so I switched to soigneur for 2013. DK: That entailed taking a massage course? TK: Yes. Although massage is only 20 per cent of the soigneur’s job. It’s all about organising the meals, kit and schedule for the riders. It was great to have that work to do at that point, as I’d left school with just GCSE’s as I knew

spin cycle magazine

the after life

LEFT: Even in the blazing sun of the feed-zone, Tim looks cool - we’re not sure about the wooly hat, though

I was going to the Academy. I had some idea of what I could do long term with coaching skills, but my condition had forced me to make decisions far quicker than I expected. DK: And now Tom Southam and John have had you take up some DS responsibilities? TK: In this year’s Tour of Britain and a race in Ireland too. I’m working my way through the BC training courses and it’s also nutritional advice that

clients. Amazing to think that coaching has grown from the gruff bloke with a stop watch down the local track to working pro team staff like yourself monitoring riders in far flung countries. How does it work? TK: Training Peaks is the system that Team Sky use to monitor the team when riders are at home. It streamlines everything. When riders approach me for training, they can be set up as a link online. We discuss their form, needs, their goals what time-scale they are looking at to

The truth was that I’d always had an under-active thyroid. It was just deteriorating as I got older and affecting both my energy and recovery more-and-more as I moved up the professional levels I’m concentrating on. DK: The main stream media is obsessed with sugar, but it’s carbohydrates in a wider sense that control body weight. TK: Yes. Power to weight is still everything, but it’s the quality not the quantity of fuel that counts. Sugar is a pretty low-grade fuel source. It’s all about the right carbs at the right time rather than starvation and training. Some riders don’t have a weight problem, but even now the young ones will eat crap and, as that food is an energy source, if it’s the wrong kind of energy it can really affect their performance and recovery. DK: You have started coaching online this year using the Training Peaks software to monitor your

achieve them. Using power meters, I can then log in and see every ride or training effort they’ve done as graphs and numbers. I have a regular monthly online face-to-face with each rider to just talk about how things are going and how they feel the training is progressing. DK: It’s taken off pretty quickly? TK: You have self doubt about your abilities and whether you can really benefit people, so the first person that signed up with me was a bit daunting to be honest. By the third and fourth rider, I was getting the confidence up and using what I’ve learnt with the team and from John and Tom. Training Peaks really helps, as you are looking at real figures and can say things like ‘so you aren’t hitting the numbers this

spin cycle magazine

the after life

week but it’s just a plateau’. You can compare their mileage efforts with wattage in shorter 20 minute high effort blocks and point out progress the rider may not have registered. It’s all about looking at the data, logging the gradual improvements and being available to analyse and support their progress. DK: You have a surprisingly broad demographic in terms of pupils don’t you? TK: That’s the amazing thing. I have a 58-year-old mum from Colorado, who does a few sportives a year and wants to be faster. I also coach a 19-year-old in Adelaide, who races competitively and she is just stating in what maybe a racing career. It’s a great mix of people. I have Felix English, too. He’s great at crits, but has had a couple of injuries this year and is playing catch-up. He has great potential for longer races and we’re working on that. It’s all about improving stamina over a longer period, as well as power and heart rate considerations. I’ve also been approached by staff on a couple of UCI top level teams, who need extra analysis and support for new young riders, so 2015 is looking busy across the board. DK: And what’s happening in 2015 for the team job? TK: Hopefully, I’ll be working on the Race to the Sun in Australia in January with JLT Condor. There’s been talk of the Tour of Perth, too. Then back to the UK and off the Tour

the after life

of Normandy. Before you know it, we’ll be back at the Tour of Britain and we’ll both be a year older. I need to reduce my race days in 2015 to devote more time to my coaching, but I’m confident enough to DS races for the team too. DK: As you are so young yourself, how do the riders respond to your instruction? TK: I say ‘well your all over-18 now, so what do you think you should be doing?’. Giving a bit of ownership works. DK: Are you going to continue as a DS? TK: Maybe. It’s a tiring job to do. It’s a lot of days away from home and sometimes six hours a day in the car. There may not be much happening in the race, but you are concentrating all the time, so the stress is there. I’m not sure I would want to do it 200 days-a-year. DK: I suppose then you’re not getting much riding in yourself? TK: I’m so unfit at the moment. But when I do go out, I just can’t go slow, so I tend to go out for a couple of hours and then crash on the sofa all afternoon. I go out with Pete more than anyone, as he goes slow on the hills and waits for me. We’ve been riding together since we were kids, but he’s away racing and I’m away, so we have a week at home coming up and we’ll do a few café rides. It’s nice.

DK: Neither of you have anything to prove really? TK: We’ve never really been rivals and we are each other’s biggest fans. DK: I first started covering races with the tour series in 2010 and the sport has grown so much in public awareness - even in five years. With Pete riding for Team Sky, you must have noticed such a change. The growing star status that riders and

teams now have their mega fans? TK: It’s massive. So weird. People are so interested now. When you go to the Tour of Britain now, it gives me chills in the spine to see the excitement. Look what our little sport as become. It makes me smile to see everyone out on the roads watching and learning about the sport now. Quite incredible really.

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true scot

CANAL KERIN RACING Words & Photography BRIAN SWEENEY

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canal kerin racing

O, it’s probably been the worst or best winter - depending on whatever way you want to look at it - in Glasgow for more than 30-odd years. The place has been covered in snow and ice for at least a month. Probably what most people think Glasgow’s like all the time. I mean, it’s proper Baltic and I lived in Iceland for years. James, my courier mate, is having a quiet day, so he calls me to see if I’m around to do some shots as it’s one of those perfect winters days - blue skies crisp air...Mega. So, we decide to get some lunch and cycle up to Firhill - home to Partick Thistle FC and by the canal basin. As we are sitting munching, I mention to James: “How’s about a

wee shot at cycling on the canal? It’s the first time in 30 years its completely frozen over.” He’s like: “...Nae fucking chance..” That’s coming from a courier? And someone who jumped off the Kingston Bridge. Next thing we see is a wee Ned on a mountain bike cycling up the middle of the canal, swigging from a bottle of Buckfast tonic wine as he passes us. “Git yirsels oan here. Ave just bolted up fae the port…” That’s around a mile towards the city centre. Two seconds later we are on it.

canal kerin racing

ABOVE:....And they’re off. Glasgow’s Canal Kerin Race gets underway. RIGHT: Even couriers need to keep warm while racing on a frozen canal.

He’s like: “Nae fucking chance.” - That’s coming from a courier? And someone who jumped off the Kingston Bridge

Next thing we see is a wee Ned on a mountain bike cycling up the middle of the canal, swigging from a bottle of Buckfast tonic wine as he passes us.

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canal kerin racing

ABOVE: Some of the couriers build up speed on the frozen and snow-covered canal

canal kerin racing

spin cycle magazine

canal kerin racing

Now, I don’t reckon many folk would ride a fixie in the snow never mind snow covered ice on a canal. It’s tough going but after a while, it’s skid central like we were 12 again…totally amazing. A couple of pictures posted and within 15 minutes, there’s about another 20 of us - skating about like little kids. The local youth project turn up too on their mountain bikes. The day being too short, it’s been decided, come Sunday, we will host the first-ever frozen canal Kerin - and so it was to be. Mind that way you used to pray for snow, so that you didn’t have to go to school? That’s what it was like for two days and it worked out just fine this time for a change. For a bunch of idiots, it all fitted smoothly into place. Entry fee

included beers, ice BBQ and ABOVE & RIGHT: The racecourse there were prizes from Brian at Rig Bike Shop, Joe from Gear. We even had marshals courtesy of Movie and Big Ross, who pulled his own tooth out at the European courier championships in Dublin - there’s a video on the web somewhere. Things really took a turn for the strange when we managed to get a local popstar to turn up dressed as a spaceman and give out the prizes - all viewed to much amusement by the local plod. All that aside, I believe Tom Jenkins won (as usual) and Lord Pumpington came last on his

We even had marshals courtesy of Movie and Big Ross, who pulled his own tooth out at the European courier championships in Dublin - there’s a video somewhere

canal kerin racing

spin cycle magazine

canal kerin racing

spin cycle magazine

canal kerin racing

BMX. After that? Well, it’s all a bit of a blur. I seem to remember me and Lord Pumpington being pulled over for cycling up a one way street with no lights, singing that Spongebob Squarepants song ‘The Best Day Ever’, then leaving our bikes in the pub...and that’s it. Watch the film made by my

friend James Anderson and you will get the idea properly. One day later, the weather got warmer. Some idiots saw our exploits on Facebook and decided to try and drive their dad’s car from Edinburgh to Glasgow on the canal. It didn’t end well.

I seem to remember me and Lord Pumpington being pulled over for cycling up a one way street with no lights, singing that Spongebob Squarepantssong ‘The Best Day Ever’

One day later, the weather got warmer. Some idiots saw our exploits on Facebook and decided to try and drive their dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car from Edinburgh to Glasgow on the canal. It didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t end well.

pro rider

BRIT OF ALRIGHT LA Photography DAN KENYON, JAMES MALONEY & PAUL COOPER

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brit of alright, la

LEFT: Hugh Porter introduces the riders one-by-one to the crowd during the team presentation night ahead of Stage One of the 2014 Tour of Britain in Liverpool BELOW: Steve Cummings strikes a pose while deep in thought during a quick-fire interview by a waiting journalist backstage

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brit of alright, la

ABOVE & RIGHT: Former proturned-TV-pundit Rob Hayles chats with Steve Cummings before turning his attention to Nicholas Roche

Nicholas Roche happily signs a local club jersey for young fans in the crowd to watch the team presentation evening in Liverpool ONE

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brit of alright, la

LEFT & BELOW: Mark Cavendish waits patiently backstage with his team-mates before being interview by ITV pundit Ned Boulting

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brit of alright, la

ABOVE: Rob Hayles gives his good friend Mark Cavendish a big hug backstage before interviewing The Manx Missel

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brit of alright, la

LEFT & BELOW: Marcel Kittle turns on the charm for the ladies during the team presentation - who could resist him with hair that beautifully styled?

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ABOVE: Mark Cavendish happily signs a race programme for a young fan RIGHT: Bernie Eisel smiles for the camera as a fan grabs a selfie with the rider from Team Sky

brit of alright, la

spin cycle magazine

brit of alright, la

ABOVE: The crowd - and waiting media - go mad for Sir Brad and Team Sky as they chat with Ned Boulting on stage during the team presentation in Liverpool One ahead of the start of the 2014 Tour of Britain

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ABOVE, LEFT-TOP & BOTTOM-LEFT: We cannot quite remember what his Royal Highness of Sir Beardness was chatting to Little Ned about here on stage, but this Knight of the Realm is certainly an expressive chap with his hands - and legs, obviously

Wiggo has the press pack waiting media scrambling for the perfect pre-race sound-bite

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brit of alright, la

ABOVE & RIGHT: The Knight of the Realm, in all his magnificent bearded glory, looks relaxed as he chats to the media pack ahead of Stage One of the 2014 Tour of Britain

brit of alright, la

spin cycle magazine

brit of alright, la

LEFT: One of the Madison Genesis mechanics preps the bikes ahead of Stage One, which took in a circuit around the streets of Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s city centre BELOW: Rapha Condor JLT soigner Colin Baldwin gets the riders ready to race before Stage One

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ABOVE: Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s bikes on the roof rack ready for the start of the 2014 Tour of Britain RIGHT: One of the BMC rider’s bikes in the shadow of Liverpool’s famous Liver Building

brit of alright, la

spin cycle magazine

brit of alright, la

ABOVE: Ian Bibby, far right, sits on the steps of the Madison Genesis van as the mechanics make some last minute checks on the team bikes before the start of Stage One

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LEFT & BELOW: An Postâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team bikes ready to roll, while Ben Swift and Ian Stannard share a joke with the Tour of Britain mascot during the official sign-on

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ABOVE: Ian Bibby warms up ahead of Stage One of the 2014 Tour of Britain, which featured a circuit round the city of Liverpool

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BELOW: Everything is in the preparation - one of the Madison Genesis soigner gets the bidons ready for the riders at a feed station in Sefton Park

ABOVE: Ready to roll - one of the team soigner is ready and eager to get started as the team cars await the start of the 2014 Tour of Britain

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ABOVE: The Movistar riders enjoy a chat while cooly waiting for the race to begin

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ABOVE & RIGHT: Mark Cavendish greets the crowds in the shadow of the famous Liver Building before looking totally focused ahead of the start

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brit of alright, la

LEFT & BELOW: Cavendish poses for a few photos before enjoying a chat with some of the other riders on the start line

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BELOW: Focuses and determined, Cav gets in the zone ahead of the start of the 2014 Tour of Britain

ABOVE: Cavendish shakes hands with Movistarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Alex Dowsett while chatting with old team-mate Bernie Eisel from Team Sky

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ABOVE: Sir Brad has a few quiet words with Alex Dowsett on the start line of Stage One in Liverpool. We can only hazard a guess at what they were discussing

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ABOVE: Crowds basked in the sunshine while waiting to catch a glimpse of the pro riders battling for bragging rights on Stage One in Liverpool

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ABOVE: Garmin-Sharp take control of the front as the main bunch races down Upper Parliament Street in the shadow of the Anglican Cathedral

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LEFT & BELOW: What itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about everything to play for as the bell gets ready to ring out to signal the final lap

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ABOVE: Omega Pharma-Quickstepâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mark Renshaw is distorted through the plastic of a bus stop as two police officers look on RIGHT: Huge crowds lined every inch of the route, but none more spectacular that the hairpin bend in the shadow of the Liver Building

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ABOVE: A young fan tries to get a better vantage point to see his heroes from Team Sky

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BELOW: One of the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soigner holds up a bidon, ready for his rider to grab at the feed station in Sefton Park

ABOVE: Riders from Madison Genesis race through Sefton Park

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SPIN CYCLE MAGAZINE PRESENTS

KILLER HILLS

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killer hills

HEN the Horseshoe Pass was mooted, I was looking forward to it, as anything with ‘pass’ in its title is usually a great climb. What the guys from Spin failed to mention was that they wanted us to climb the Old Horseshoe Pass, which is effectively somebody’s very steep drive. As you can tell from the photographs, the trees were low on foliage making the climb even more bleak. There also seemed to be a lot of mud at both sides of the road, making the nice narrow road even narrower. Fantastic. That day obviously wasn’t my lucky day, as having encountered a car while going up the Bwlch (see issue 7), I had the pleasure of a white van on one of the more technical parts of the climb. This meant that I had to stop to avoid a face-plant in a ditch (not wanting to get my white top mucky). As you climb up, the view gets miles better, as the trees on the right hand side drop away to reveal a view that is quite Turneresque. The downside is that it is narrow and steep, so if you want to stop and admire the view, you’re probably best waiting until nearer the top where it flattens off before capturing the scene. Most people nowadays have a compact chain-set, so although

killer hills

Nº.09

THE OLD SHOE KILLER HILLS Distance: 1.5 km Average grade: 14 % Lowest elev: 183 m Highest elev: 396 m Maximum grade: At least 25 % Height: 213 m

it’s steep, it’s not insurmountable RIGHT: Jo makes climbing the Old - I managed to get up it on 39x25 Shoe look easy - she is even smiling without needing to get off and walk. That being said, it wasn’t a walk in the park. Climber Jo Blakeley had a compact and had no difficulties; in fact, she enjoyed it so much, she rode up it 1 & a half times. It is probably overlooked by most people nowadays, so if you want a quieter ride up to Ponderosa Café, give the Old Shoe a look. Thanks Heather. The packet of Haribo is in the post. For the techies out there, here are some

Although it’s steep, it’s not insurmountable - I managed to get up it on 39x25 without needing to get off and walk. That being said, it wasn’t a walk in the park

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killer hills

ABOVE: Joanne Blakeley, who finished ninth the other year in the National Hill Climb, cuts a lonely figure as she battles with the Old Shoe

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spin cycle magazine

killer hills

extra details. If you turn to page 153 in Simon Warren’s 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs and look at the map of the Horseshoe Pass, you’ll see - just as the horseshoe shaped loop begins - there is a road off to the right that seems to take you up the same hill by a more direct route. Never a good sign to see a straight road up a hill with topography rings on it reminiscent of the cross section of a 1,000 year oak. Web forum speculation suggest that the 20 per cent sign on the Horseshoe pass is actually on the wrong road and Strava suggests that the average for the Old Shoe is eight per cent to Horseshoe Pass’ six per cent. I’m not sure why Simon Warren in all his skinny majesty swerved the Old Shoe, but comparing the ‘new’ and ‘old’ Shoe is like comparing an espadrille with an six inch stilletto. Pedalling up the A542 from Llangollen, as if you’re going to climb the Pass, you will hit some gradient and, a couple of hundred yards past the village green affair on your left, you will spy a single house on your right with a right hand turn just before it that seems to drop down into the valley. If you take this road and follow it to the left, it rises quickly and becomes the Old Shoe. As a country lane in Wales, it’s all rather lovely. Narrow, quiet and rising up through the trees with the valley on your right.

killer hills

ABOVE & LEFT: If you want an added challenge, don’t bother with the bog-standard Horseshoe Pass - take the harder and less travelled route via the Old Shoe

Unfortunately, as a bicycle climb, it’s a pig. A bristling, angry pig with tusks running at you at 40mph. In summer, the Old Shoe is the kind of climb best attempted on a 34/28 although it will have you gasping and grasping for something lower. There’s always the added joy of meeting a car as it’s a tight road. In winter with all the tree coverage, it has the added bonus of pretty poor grip. It rises and then rises more. Then carries on rising with an average of 7.4 per cent and some sections near to 20 per cent. You break clear of

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the tress with a half a mile to go with no drop in gradient and end up behind the Ponderosa Cafe at the top. Rather like walking up Snowdon to find all the others have taken the train up, you’ll stagger into the cafe to see all the riders who’ve climbed the main road bigging up their modest achievement. Do spend some time telling them that they should have tried the road less travelled. One look at your haunted features should confirm their unworthiness. Hopefully, they’ll just push their cake over to you in silence.

Narrow, quiet and rising up through the trees with the valley on your right. Unfortunately, as a bicycle climb, it’s a pig. A bristling, angry pig with tusks running at you at 40-mph

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll stagger into the cafe to see all the riders whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve climbed the main road bigging up their modest achievement. Do spend some time telling them that they should have tried the road less travelled. One look at your haunted features should confirm their unworthiness.

Post race warm down. Ian Stannard bleeds from road rash picked up on course