Issue 07

ISSUE

07

F E N - TA S T I C !

Enervit Tour of Cambridgeshire DOUBLE DRAGON

Bala Beast and Preseli Angel ON TEST

Kinesis ATR & Lapierre Pulsium 500 T H E M AT E R I A L WO R L D

An assessment of frame materials

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E D I TO R RICHARD HALLETT

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THE SCENE

richard@sportifmagazine.com

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GRAN DESIGNS

DEPUTY EDITOR D AV I D H A R M O N

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T H E M AT E R I A L WORLD

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N O T S O FA S T

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RU G G E D R O A D S

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C’EST DOMMAGE

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F RU C T O S E : F R I E N D OR FOE?

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MARINE LIFE

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SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

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TA K E A T R I P

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DA R K A N G E L

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ANDREW SHORE

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T H E A RT O F S A F E CORNERING

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L’ E TA P E D U T O U R

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FRANK BEECHINOR

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LIZARD SKINS

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NEWS

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THE SCENE RIDES KIT PREP R E T RO SKILLS S P O RT I F P E O P L E REGIONAL

david@sportifmagazine.com O P E R AT I O N S D I R E C TO R JOSEPHINE MARSH

josephine@sportifmagazine.com CONTRIBUTORS RICHARD HALLETT D AV I D H A R M O N SIMON SMYTHE JOSEPHINE MARSH T I M L AW S O N W AY L A N D A U S T I N R E A N N E A T H E RT O N M A RT I N W A T T S S P O RT O G R A F ADIE TURFORD WIGHTPOD C A R L D AV I E S P A U L D AV Y PHIL O’CONNOR I N D U S T RY I M A G E S AD SALES

sales@sportifmagazine.com DESIGN PA R E N T

www.madebyparent.com PUBLISHER P RO J E C T 7 R A C I N G LT D

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@ S P O RT I F M A G U K S P O RT I F M A G A Z I N E

June 6th & 7th 2015

S P O RT I F M A G A Z I N E . C O M

(Photo: EMPA/Shawn Ryan)

You have to ask yourself why one giant event in one area of the country can pass without incident whilst another in a different area can stoke up enough distaste that individuals feel it necessary to deliberately try to injure participants?

What is it that drives such behavior?

Much has been made of the hostility of communities and road users in sportive hotspots. Locals point to the restrictions of freedom that a large event imposes on them and cite riders as unsafe, rude or arrogant. Meanwhile riders can experience verbal hostility, intimidation and in the most extreme cases sabotage attacks.

Rather than hurling abuse at each other it’s perhaps time to look at the causes rather than the symptoms.

The fact is that, in places, there are too many events over the same roads to be acceptable to the surrounding communities.

Is it any wonder there is friction in South Wales with at least three events in the same area in the space of 3 weeks? And Wales is not alone in experiencing this, Scotland and most publically, the New Forest are suffering the same fate.

Not that most organisers don’t work hard on building relationships but it’s time for a recognized association of sportive organisers. Maybe then will there be some unity of approach and public accommodation for a branch of cycling that is still growing.

D AV I D H A R M O N DEPUTY EDITOR

• SCENE

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‘Enervit Tour of Cambridgeshire made a remarkable entry in the UCWT’ Says UCI As the dust settled over Peterborough after Britain’s first official UCIWCT Gran Fondo, Sportif caught up with Malcolm Smith, one of the organisers of the Enervit Tour of Cambridgeshire, to hear about the event’s reaction.

When asked about the press reaction in general Malcolm quipped; “It’s ranged from favourable… to extremely favourable! Inevitably the local press have balanced our success with a few dissenting voices but that has to be expected. It’s a

handful against 6500 starters in the event’ The UCI, it seems, were also impressed with the event’s inaugural year commenting to organisers that; ‘We’ve not witnessed a better organised and more spectacular event anywhere in the world outside of the Olympics.”

The world governing body followed up their onsite comments on the UCI World Cycling Tour website on the 12th of June with; ‘The number of participants

and professionalism of the organisation was of a level that most events can only achieve after years of hard work and experience…’

But Smith knows that the hard work isn’t over as he and his team set about addressing the inevitable teething issues of such a mammoth event for the next addition.

“The further we get away from it the more we can rationally look back and say we did well…Being an organiser, you do get dragged into dealing with micro grievances on the day which distorts the way you feel about it, after putting body and soul into it, what you’re handling on the day is people who are disgruntled having to queue for a medal. Being pulled up for minutiae not great, in short very pleased though!”

The event will enter its second year in 2016 with a much better idea of how a great event actually unfolds on the day.

“We’ve already got a plan to reinforce the positives from the event and minimise the negatives, time spent queuing was one of the gripes which had consequences later on for the road closures. The calculation for the broom wagon was run at a projected speed of 12mph and they missed the cut off point. Now knowing what 5,000/6,000 riders look like it will be easier to control for next year.”

The 2016 edition will take place over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of June utilising the same parcours for the Chrono and Gran Fondo with a bigger expo and increasing carnival atmosphere.

For full results of the 2015 event visit the website

Inaugural Velothon Wales raises £500,000 for charity but leaves some uneasy A vast field of 13,000 riders took to the valleys of South Wales in early June in the first Velothon Wales, which, like Ride London, elected to run a UCI sanctioned professional race event along with the sportive event.

The cyclists – over 60% of which were from outside Wales – began their ride close to Cardiff Castle on St Mary Street after being welcomed to Wales with the Welsh National Anthem. The event was officially started by Wales rugby legend Colin Charvis who then got on his bike to join riders on the 140km closed-road route.

Velothon Wales is expected to have raised more than £500,000 for charity by fundraising participants while the direct economic impact to Wales is estimated to be in excess of £2m.

The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates said: “This one-day major cycling event provided us with a unique and exciting opportunity to showcase Wales to the world. I was pleased to see people coming out in support along the route and giving all participants, including those cycling for charity, a warm Welsh welcome. We thank local residents for their support, which helped us to deliver a safe and successful event. There are lessons to be learnt from this new event and, as is the norm after any major event, we will now work with partners to conduct a full post-event review.”

However, not all community leaders echoed the Minister’s sentiments. The Labour Member of Parliament for Caerphilly, David Wayne, was one of the

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strongest voices to speak out against the huge event.

Speaking to the ‘South Wales Argus’, Wayne was quoted as saying; “For the people of Caerphilly, [Sunday] was a nightmare.

Roads were closed, sometimes before the time on the advertised schedules, and information about the Velothon road closures was not widely distributed…I have had hundreds of people complaining to me about how the Velothon caused huge disruption and near chaos.”

There were also a number of injuries on the day as riders came across tacks strewn on the road surface in an attempt to disrupt the event.

No-one was available from the organization to speak to Sportif Magazine on the eve of going to press about plans for the 2nd edition of the event but Event Director Andy Taylor commented in a media release after the event; “The people of Wales came out in their thousands to support the riders and watch the pro race and, thanks to the fine weather, everyone got to see Wales at its best…This is one of the biggest cycling events in the world and we have delivered it here in Wales – safely, successfully and with as minimum a disruption as possible which was always our biggest priority.”

Despite any fence building required with the local communities in the next 12 months the 2016 Velothon Wales has already attracted in excess of 20,000 pre-registrations and a raft of support from small businesses and participants taking part in the inaugural event.

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WWW.TOUROFCAMBRIDGESHIRE.COM

WWW.VELOTHON-WALES.CO.UK

• SCENE

Pinarello Experience wheels into Mallorca Mallorca has, for a very long time, lured cyclists to its shores from professionals to amateurs.

It has average temperatures way above 18c from May – October and doesn’t dip below 10c the rest of the year, not only does Mallorca have favourable weather but it has a vast array of terrain.

With such a captive audience, Pinarello have set up a Bike Hire outlet in the form of the ‘Pinarello Experience’ and based themselves in Puerto Pollença, with easy access to the beasty Sa Calobra and Puig Major or the classic ride out to the lighthouse at Cap Formentor.

With six different models ranging from the Razha 105 (€30 per day) right up to the Dogma F8 Dura Ace Di2 (€100 per day) there’s something for every Pinarello fan.

The team are on hand to ensure the bike you choose is right for you and to give advice on local routes.

— WWW.PINARELLOEXPERIENCE.COM

TIME TO CLIMB

Cumbre Del Sol - Spain

5,000 plus battle through humid condition on 5th Gran Fondo New York Over 5,000 riders from 70 countries took to the roads of New York and New Jersey in the 5th Gran Fondo New York in mid May. Unlike previous editions, the weather was mild and humid and although the start at the George Washington Bridge was shrouded in mist by bid morning the sun had burnt off

the remaining moisture to leave riders facing the tough climbs of Bear Mountain and Cheesecote in the full glare of the sun.

The Gran Fondo New York was the culmination of the stand-alone GFNY international series, run along similar qualifying lines to the UCIWCT. With rounds in central and southern America and Europe, the top 10% of each round earned a place in the front starting pen in New York to challenge for the overall GFNY championship title.

Whilst 5,000 riders enjoyed their day out in New York State, at the front of the race only five contenders remained by the top of the climb of Alpine Hill, just 10 miles into the course.

The men’s race was eventually won by Colombian Oscar Tovar, with the women’s race being taken by fellow Colombian Camila Cortes.

— WWW.GRANFONDONY.COM

DROMARTI

• RIDES

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Big Time To give an idea of the hugeness of the East of England Showground, it felt almost eerily empty occupied by 700 time triallists and their families on day one, Saturday June 6. Acres of car park were empty, allowing the gale-force westerly wind to get a clear run at the cars huddled together by the main entrance so that by the time it reached them it was strong enough to lift wheel bags, as if they were dried leaves, and toss them into the air. Doing the usual cyclist’s changing routine using a car door as a screen to protect one’s modesty was impossible. The forcenine gusts meant one’s modesty was more likely to end up slammed in the car door while one’s carbon time trial bike cartwheeled off across the tarmac.

So on Sunday, with the cobwebs literally blown away and the team of organisers and marshals having had what amounted to a dress rehearsal for the big day, the day dawned sunny and, thankfully, slightly less windy. The many – possibly too many – emails from the organisers had scared those participants who hadn’t ridden the time trial the day before into arriving super-

WORDS SIMON SMYTHE PHOTOGRAPHY SPORTOGRAF

GRAN DESIGNS Don’t call it a sportive, whatever you do: in a gran fondo the whole field is set off at the same time.

It’s an elite race at the front and a mass participation ride behind. The winner is the first to cross the line rather than the fastest chip time, although each rider also gets a chiptimed result.

Tour of Cambridgeshire organiser Tom Caldwell compared the format of Great Britain’s first gran fondo to that of the London Marathon so that we bike-riding Brits, who have always gone to great lengths to tribalise our sport,

could grasp the concept and, heaven knows, even accept it.

However, perhaps a more difficult idea to accept was how a monster peloton of over 5,000 riders was going to squeeze itself through the small villages south of Peterborough via 128km of small lanes.

The answer was first of all to hire the East of England Showground as HQ – a purpose built exhibition space with an aircraft hangar-sized hall and parking for thousands of cars. Second, get full road closure for the entire route.

The impetus for such an ambitious event had come from the granting of UCI status. The Tour of Cambridgeshire would be a round of the 2015 UCI World Cycling Tour – one of 14 events run under the rules and regulations of cycling’s world governing body that take place around the globe. The top 25 per cent in each age category would qualify for the amateur world championships in Denmark in September. There would also be a time trial the day before, in line with the programme of the ToC’s fellow qualifying rounds.

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early to ensure they registered in time for the midday start. Being ready so early meant that riders began queuing for the start hours in advance to bag themselves a spot near the front. The very front pen was reserved for racing licence holders; the others were first come first served. Clearly the closer you could get to the front, the sooner you would cross the start line and consequently the finish line, leading to a higher finishing position.

By 11am there was an enormous Lycra-clad serpent of riders that snaked from the start/finish gantry some 500 metres in front of the arena almost half a mile back to the car park. At noon the gun went off and the racers bolted out of the front pen. At 12.30 half the queue

had gone over the start line and finally, by almost 1pm, the last rider had cleared the gantry.

The first section of the course took the route of the time trial – out of the showground onto the main road west through Chesterton where the time triallists had battled into the block headwind the day before. For the gran fondo riders the trickiest thing at this point was to have confidence in the road closures and to override their instinct to stay left of the white line in order to ease the congestion at the verge on the left. However, after the first left turn towards Washingley it started to become second nature and the rapidly stretching snake of riders also expanded widthways.

• RIDES

Cheering Locals The organisers had received a small number of angry tweets and facebook comments from locals who felt they had become ‘prisoners in their own homes’ due to the road closures. One farmer threatened to ignore the closures completely. However, for the most part residents of the villages on the route came out of their houses to wave and cheer on the riders Tour de France style. Some had made cardboard signs to encourage a family member; others had set up tables with bottles of water and squash for thirsty cyclists to grab.

Families sat in deckchairs on their drives with the radio on, clapping and shouting “well done” to any rider they thought deserved praise.

And fortunately the disgruntled farmer didn’t drive his tractor onto the course: the organisers had alerted the police, who would have been waiting for him.

At the southernmost point of the course, at 30 miles, farmland gave way to concrete runway as the by-now strung-out peloton was directed through the tall gates of RAF Alconbury for a lap of the runway. There was no danger of an F-15 straying onto the course: Alconbury is now used as a communications base by the US air force rather than for flying.

Besides, the Americans announced earlier this year that they would be pulling out of Alconbury, and there was certainly a deserted feel about it.

The first feed station was set up at the end of the runway: bananas, water and sachets of energy drink powder from sponsor Enervit all thankfully unrationed.

Out of the gates and back on civvy street life was about to get tougher. As the race hit fenland

proper, the wind was in the north-west, which meant a crossheadwind was howling down the five-mile dead-straight, deadflat road crossing the Bedford Level and linking the fenland villages of Ramsey Heights and Pondersbridge. Here the biggest, strongest rouleurs came forward while the rest sat hiding in silent single file behind, hoping to avoid doing a turn.

The endless straight road under a huge, empty sky alongside a drainage cutting with the Tolkeinian name of Bevill’s Leam could have inspired Middle Earth, especially with glycogen depletion setting in, but at the village of Yaxley normal landscape resumed: small hills and corners thankfully reappeared, as did cheering locals.

The final run-in to the showground was on the same main road as on the way out – now a blast of blissful tailwind for three miles that swept twitching, cramping legs to the last roundabout where only a sprint beside the barriers to the gantry remained.

Thanks to its contract with the UCI the Tour of Cambridge is set to run for at least another two years. If you’re after a world-class Continental-style event – not a sportive, mind – without travelling abroad, this is it.

Fenland Pave There was a reprieve at Pondersbridge as the road took a hairpin bend south-eastwards for a super-fast 10 miles with the wind behind, but without warning the first turn back west towards Peterborough headed off down Dykemoor Drove, a dusty, Belgianstyle farm track between fields that was surfaced not with cobbles but with large concrete slabs. No amount of vertical compliance was going to soak up the ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump of the spinejarring gaps between these slabs – although the man bravely slogging round on a fat bike would have been fine here – but it was at least a temporary distraction from the fact that the final 30 miles were mostly into wind.

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• KIT

WORDS RICHARD HALLETT

THE MATERIAL WORLD There’s something for everyone in the densely-populated world of road bike manufacture.

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It’s a fair bet that most of the bikes lined up for the start of the average UK sportive boast a carbon-fibre frame, that the next most popular material will be an alloy of aluminium and that, while there will be a few titanium frames in the mix, it’s quite possible that, unless we’re on the start line of the Eroica Britannia, there won’t be any steel frames at all. It’s also a fair bet that all but one or two of those cycles will have a carbonfibre fork. There are reasons both self-evident and not so obvious for this state of affairs; what are they, and what do they mean for the prospective sportive bike purchaser?

No prizes for guessing that carbon-fibre is the most popular, because it can be used to build the lightest, stiffest frame possible and even those road cyclists who don’t need the lightest, stiffest bike possible rather like the sound of it. Who, after all, wants to push any more weight uphill than is necessary? The ubiquity of carbonfibre forks is even easier to explain; nothing else comes close to the weight of a full-carbon front end.

It is possible to buy an aluminium-framed road bike of similar weight to mid-range carbon-fibre at significantly lower cost, making it the budgetconscious choice and, with

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something of a renaissance in aluminium frame construction, the weight differential between aluminium and mid-range carbonfibre is likely to diminish.

Titanium, for a period in the 1990s the most prestigious of frame building materials, fell out of favour for racing as, first, TIG-welded aluminium and then carbon-fibre composites proved lighter and stiffer. Noted for offering a softer, more comfortable ride, it also offers exceptional longevity and a unique appearance that ensure it retains a loyal following among sporting road cyclists looking for something beyond the everyday riding experience.

WHO, AFTER ALL, WANTS TO PUSH ANY MORE WEIGHT UPHILL THAN IS NECESSARY? Where does this leave good old steel? Long overdue for a rediscovery, it could be argued.

The advent of super high-strength stainless steel tubesets from Reynolds, Columbus and, more recently, KVA has allowed both custom frame builders and series manufacturers to shave the weight of a steel frame to close to 1400g; fitted with the now-ubiquitous carbon-fibre fork, the result is competitive with titanium while offering a famously supple ride and the possibility of true individuality.

• KIT

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Light and stiff The urge to reduce weight has been at the heart of advances in cycle technology since the earliest days of the industry, but with the advent of carbon-fibre composites frames in the 1980’s, the game changed dramatically.

Carbon fibres are immensely stiff – resistant to stretch – for their weight, which distinguishes them from the metal framebuilding materials. All three steel, titanium and aluminium – exhibit roughly the same stiffness as measured against weight – their ‘specific modulus’ - so steel is three times heavier than aluminium and thrice as stiff.

Stiffness, not strength, of which there is generally enough, is the key to bike performance, and the fact that there is no obvious way to find an advantage for aluminium

THE URGE TO REDUCE WEIGHT HAS BEEN AT THE HEART OF ADVANCES IN CYCLE TECHNOLOGY over steel hampered early efforts with aluminium and titanium frames in the 1970s.

Only when pioneers such as Gary Klein began working with oversized aluminium tubes did they begin to see the hoped-for performance improvements, which come from the way

bending and torsional strength and stiffness scale geometrically with increasing cross-sectional area of a component. A 10 percent increase in tube diameter means a 33 percent increase in bending stiffness with the same wall thickness; reducing this by half still gives a 16 percent

increase. The limit to tube diameter is reached when its walls become too thin to resist buckling under load, and aluminium is so light that very large diameter, stiff tubes can have adequately thick walls. Steel tube walls can be thinner, but walls of 0.5mm or less are highly susceptible to dents.

The much higher specific modulus of carbon-fibre changed the game. Even low-modulus fibres (less stiff) can build into a frame of stiffness comparable to aluminium, and they are often used in conjunction with highmodulus fibres to reduce the stiffness of the complete frame.

Efforts to reduce frame weight to a minimum while retaining strength and stiffness result in the use of tubes with the thinnest walls possible, which in turn means using the fattest tubes. This phenomenon applies with carbonfibre; as manufacturers seek to build the lightest composites frame on the market, they increase tube dimensions and tend to end up with a very light and very stiff structure. Design features such as oversized steerer tubes and beefed-up bottom bracket areas add to the effect.

Choices, Choices...

When choosing a sportive bike, minimal weight and great stiffness may be top of the list. If so, the case for carbonfibre is almost unanswerable.

However, the growing number of carbon-fibre road bikes built with comfort-enhancing features, which inevitably add some weight, suggests that carbon-fibre’s inherent stiffness may not be to everyone’s taste.

Furthermore, custom carbonfibre frame construction is costly and most cyclists therefore have to stick with off-the-peg offerings that may or may not be exactly what they really want.

There’s another approach, which is where titanium scores.

It sits nicely between steel and aluminium in terms of weight and stiffness and, interestingly, offers exceptional strength to weight.

Reynolds 3-2.5Ti has an ultimate tensile strength, at 810-960MPa, directly comparable with Reynolds 631 steel while being just 56percent of the weight. It is resistant to fatigue, corrosion and dents and is readily made into a strong but resilient structure comfortable over long days in the saddle. There’s plenty of choice, from full custom to straight off the shelf, and if the soft grey tint of satin titanium is not to taste, it can be painted or polished.

High-end titanium frames go on forever and scrub up nicely even after years of neglect; as an allyear, all weather ride, Ti makes a lot of sense.

Aluminium is the sleeper in this overview in the sense that it remains immensely popular while being easily overlooked. It is more than just excellent value; a really well-designed aluminium frame

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can be surprisingly comfortable.

Those that aren’t tend to be built for durability first and foremost, which may well be another reason to press the button.

The excellent price/ performance of aluminium surely explains the relative dearth of mass-produced performance steel road bikes. The appeal of steel today is largely to tourists and commuters, but it should not be lightly dismissed. Lack of weight isn’t everything when there’s no prize at stake. As someone once said; ‘steel does a lot of work’.

Steel tubes are relatively slender and give a bike a distinctive appearance in the modern bunch.

Bikes such as the Genesis Volare 953 show that the performance is there for those who want it. While expensive, a 953 or Columbus XCR frame is no more so than many top-end carbon-fibre

models. Sure, steel is the left-field option, one that will find favour with those unconvinced by the mainstream, but it’s a rational choice too; there’s that fabled ride comfort, the bespoke build option and, for the true connoisseur, the custom paint job…

• RIDES

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AN EDUCATION TO ANYONE WHO HAS NEVER BATTLED AGAINST THE CLOCK INTO A HOWLING WIND

WORDS JOSEPHINE MARSH PHOTOGRAPHY ADIE TURFORD & JOSEPHINE MARSH

NOT SO FAST Historically, sportives have been created to flog cyclists over challenging terrain. This isn’t surprising because when we settle down, in the comfort of our own homes, to watch the stars toiling in the Grand Tours it’s the mountains that make the race.

If you had offered a completely flat sportive to the masses a decade ago you would probably have had a few askance looks, but events like the Flat and Fast 100 are an education to anyone who has never battled against the clock into a howling wind.

In the week prior to the event I

was looking forward to riding my first ever completely flat 100 miler.

I had visions of an 18mph average speed and gleefully uploading it to Strava afterwards.

By the morning of the event I knew my chances of making it round 100 miles were slim, let alone quickly, fortunately I had the option of a 100 kilometre route.

The ride started from the Trinity Academy in Thorne (very easy to find and with ample parking) and the Flat and Fast very conscientiously allows riders to turn up anytime between 06:30 and 09:30 which is great for the

non-early birders like me.

I arrived and was quickly on the start line at 08:50, at the tail end of the field. Most people who ride in East Yorkshire, like to set off early it seems. I’ve been doing a fair bit of training recently in preparation for a triple ascent of Mont Ventoux for an upcoming Sportif issue, so I assumed I’d soon catch the stragglers, it wasn’t to be. The wind was 40mph fierce and head on, or so it seemed almost every way I turned from the moment I turned off onto the first country lane after passing through Thorne.

As each mile went past I counted

down the remaining percentage of the ride, I haven’t ever done this with cycling before. In days past when I started, and then quickly stopped running, I’d often resort to percentages to try and make each step more bearable, so it was at the Flat and Fast. Though, the sun was sparkling on the surface of myriad canals and rivers and my progress was marked by wildly waving fields of bright yellow rape.

Then disaster struck, I punctured on a dodgy pothole.

I’ve been lucky in my cycling life, I’ve only had one before and the chap I was with refused to let me change it, I was cursing him when I had to learn with not a soul in sight. Within minutes I was almost back on the road, when a man also riding the sportive pulled up to check on me. I told him I was ok and off he went with the idea of meeting up at the food stop.

I made it without incident to the stop 4 miles away just as I caught up with him. We chatted over tea, an excellent spread of cakes and wraps and he introduced himself as Terry, a Sportif reader no less.

After light refreshment, Terry assured me it was unlikely I’d see him again, being 50 years older than me but with a cracking cycling physique I had to disagree.

Ten miles down, when I’d battled past windfarms and long straight roads with the sound of the wind my only company, I made a quick stop. No sooner than I’d hopped off but Terry reappeared, he spoke the most glorious words I’ve ever heard “get behind me and let’s carry on together”, as lovely as that was I couldn’t let him do all the work.

We rode echelon style in the cross-wind for miles through the Isle of Axholme, which until 1626 was underwater. Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer, was appointed to drain it and since me and Terry were riding on dry land I’d say he did a pretty good job.

We hit the final six miles and were chatting away when I realised nothing was making sense.

I quickly ate hoping it would fix the dire place I found myself in.

Terry kept looking back over his shoulder at me in concern. It was hell, it was the worst few miles I’ve ever endured. Then, like sunshine after a storm, I found a last burst of energy and we rode back into Thorne time trial style.

For those that haven’t yet

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made a sportive buddy, I say try it. It could be the reason you keep going when you feel you can’t push on, the buddy who pulls out the caffeinated energy gel ten miles out and forces it down your neck, who continues to give encouragement even though you’ve only just met and could have finished a lot more quickly without having to drag you along with them. The Terrys of this world deserve a special mention and sometimes, just maybe, you’ll get to be the Terry.

F L AT N FA S T 1 0 0

THORNE 100 MILES

• RIDES

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rides it is entirely normal to see few others on the road. The audax feel was reinforced by a small detour after Blaenau Ffestiniog, which went up an entirely unnecessary bonus hill into Ffestiniog itself.

Eventually I reached the first of two feeds. 75km of hard riding is a long way to go without a stop, but apparently in earlier editions most riders on the long route had ignored a feed much earlier in the ride, making it largely redundant.

Still, that’s what gels are for,

RUGGED ROADS

THE ROAD VISIBLY SNAKING AT A CRAZY ANGLE UP THE SIDE OF A HUGE BOWLER HAT-SHAPED MOUNTAIN

WORDS RICHARD HALLETT

BALA DEVIL

BALA

102 MILES

Bala… Isn’t it surrounded by massive great mountains? It is, and they stretch away in all directions, with roads going over them. It’s prime sportive territory, for sure.

There is a glut of long, hard climbs in the area, which is one of great natural beauty. What’s not to like?

How about the positioning of the 102 mile route’s big ascent almost at its end? This is the kind of thing that makes one adopt a cautious approach to the early miles. Another is bad weather, although the heavy rain of the previous night had given way to overcast and windy but rain-free conditions for the start of the 2015 Bala Devil. The roads were still wet and the route reminiscent of

one of the wilder Welsh audax rides, so out came my audax bike complete with mudguards and a 32t bottom sprocket.

The first leg of an entertaining route took riders north from Bala into rugged terrain, the road incessantly rising, descending a little and rising still more as it penetrated further into windswept desolation. No surprise there, but the hour-plus it took to get to the first significant descent was longer than expected.

The wait was worth it; a vertiginous drop landed riders in Cwm Penmachno, a miniature version of a Yorkshire Dale. Dry stone walls run up the sides of the valley to meet rugged moorland,

still tinted with a haze of bluebells.

After some 15km of mostly fast going, the ride perked up once more with a left turn at Betws-yCoed and the start of the long run up to the Crimea Pass.

Out came the sun to show this stunningly beautiful road in its best light. Before reaching the evil slopes of the pass itself, the route passed Dolwyddelan and afforded a fine view of its small but perfectly-formed castle, partlyrestored and sitting on a rocky outcrop above the town.

So far I had seen just two other riders, one at the start who left me standing, but no matter; I had decided to treat the event as a well-signposted audax and on such

surely? At the feed I encountered two riders with the slightly anxious air of those unsure of what they have gotten themselves into.

They would soon find out; leaving the feed in the direction of Harlech and looking forward to a look at the fabled castle followed by a long, easy leg through Barmouth to Dolgellau, I was surprised to be sent up a tiny lane to the left – and inland. The great mountainous mass inland from Harlech has few roads, and this one barely counted as such. It was gated, which offered respite from a relentless 25percent gradient, and free of motor traffic, which was nice.

It led to a descent through

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an idyllic wooded valley and ended back on the HarlechBarmouth road at Llanbedr, so we got the long, easy leg after all.

The breeze that had made the previous three hours taxing now became a friend, albeit one that made the back-road climb out of Dolgellau a warm one. After Cross Foxes came a short section of main road climbing followed by possibly the best and certainly the fastest descent of the day to Dinas Mawddwy and the gateway to the day’s big test.

At the Dinas Mawddwy feed I debated the difficulty of the imminent Bwlch-y-Groes with two women from Lincolnshire who evidently liked excessively steep climbs, one observing that it wasn’t as hard as the Lake District’s Hardknott Pass. Hmm; I’d rate the Bwlch harder, not least because walking is so obviously not a sensible option. The view from the bottom is worse than daunting, the road visibly snaking at a crazy angle up the side of a huge bowler hat-shaped mountain to disappear around a corner a good mile and a half away.

It would be a long walk and was a long climb, taking me a good 17 minutes of slow cadence leg-presses. So long and steep is the road that car drivers venturing down do well to keep their speed low; the sign at the top warns cyclists of its danger. Just before the top, there’s a right turn and a long moorland road that leads down to Lake Vyrnwy. We took it and committed to one last climb, not as vicious as the Bwlch but savage nonetheless, before a blissful, scenic run back into Bala and an end to a day of long, hard but enjoyable mountain climbs.

— WWW.REDKITEEVENTS.CO.UK

• KIT again. Lapierre seem to have subscribed to this trend by speccing the Pulsium 500 with Mavic’s fitand-forget Aksium wheel set, which to me is a mistake.

Granted it keeps the overall cost down for the consumer but added to the clever technology of the frame these heavy gyroscopes leave the ride not damped but dead. Slotting in a set of handbuilt wheels transformed the bike into a delightful machine, blessed with feedback and comfort.

There is no shortage of climbing gears though. A super wide 11-32 LAPEIRRE

PULSIUM 500 £2499.99 RRP

C’est Dommage WORDS DAVID HARMON

One of the most useful aspects of carbon fibre, as highlighted elsewhere in this issue by Richard Hallett, is the ability to engineer characteristics into its construction.

The lay up of the fibres and characteristics of the resins used can go a long way to achieving stiffness, lightness and to some extent comfort.

But, when endurance frame design is driven only by racing, you inevitably end up with a frame that is excellent for racing but that can be a tiresome beast for the average, non-racing sportiviste. It’s a little like taking a Porsche 911 to B&Q and expecting, because it gets you there, that it will be any good at carrying curtain poles.

French firm Lapierre, recognizing that areas of a frame such as the bottom bracket need to be stiff and others need to provide comfort, have used the

‘engineerability’ of carbon to produce the Pulsium 500, an endurance frame using a branched top tube, the lower branch housing a flexible elastomer, allowing a small degree of compression damping.

The idea is to take the sting out of the tail of the bike without a compromise in stiffness and for the most part it’s pretty effective, working well together with the top tube and seat stays. Add to the package a plush Fi’zi:k Aliante and even the worst of Shropshire’s sometimes dire lanes posed little problem. The back end of the bike then works well, the front slightly less so, in isolating road shock, not that they are unmatched. The fork tracks predictably thanks to relatively slack angles and both ends together make the Pulsium a sublimely stable and quick descender.

I have recently begun to think that manufacturers are becoming increasingly adept at providing stability and probably more relevantly, predictability in their sportive machines by fitting heavy, cheap wheel sets. Heavy wheels may require more effort but they are easier to control for slow climbing and then when coming back down

THE IDEA IS TO TAKE THE STING OUT OF THE TAIL OF THE BIKE WITHOUT A COMPROMISE IN STIFFNESS AND FOR THE MOST PART IT’S PRETTY EFFECTIVE cassette is welcome in hauling you and the 8.12 kg Pulsium skywards but personally I always find the large jump between sprockets uncomfortable.

Finishing kit is excellent and ultra reliable Shimano Ultegra grouspet makes for superb braking and shifting in a long, rangy stance on the bike.

C’est dommage indeed that such an innovative and effective frame is let down by its wheels.

— WWW.LAPIERRE-BIKES.CO.UK

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• PREP

24

attributes normally associated with improved performance.

This study is important because it starts to question a line often presented by the soft drink industry, that a calorie is a calorie and there is little difference in the metabolic fate relative to how the calories are consumed. Despite its structural similarity to glucose,

FRUCTOSE: FRIEND OR FOE? To some fructose is the key performance elixir, high consumption rates of which when combined with other carbohydrates offering an immediate improvement in endurance performance. A similar hexose sugar to glucose and getting its name from fruit where it can be found naturally in relatively high concentrations, what’s not to like?

In parallel with studies using increasing fructose concentrations in energy drinks and gels there has been an intense focus in the medical journals on the negative consequences of fructose consumption. High rates of fructose consumption especially via crystalline fructose and high fructose corn syrup have been linked to cardiovascular disease,

hypertension, diabetes, cancer, uric acid production and nonalcoholic liver disease. (Johnson et al. 2010, White 2013) The latest study hanging a cloud over fructose was conducted by the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois (Rendero et al 2015), they tried to answer if an increase in fructose intake contributes to obesity in the absence of excessive calorie intake.

The results from this study are perhaps some of most unlikely to translate into claims for fructose containing sports drinks. They concluded that matched calorie for calorie with the simple sugar glucose, fructose causes significant weight gain, physical inactivity and body fat deposition: not the kind of

25

the body processes fructose very differently. The researchers in the Illinois study drew attention to how contrary to glucose, fructose bypasses certain metabolic steps and that this results in an increase in fat formation, especially in adipose tissue and liver.

That the body processes these sugars differently is exactly why they are so interesting to exercise scientists and sports performers. Whilst it is generally accepted that carbohydrate supplementation during exercise improves performance there is still much debate as to the optimum composition of sugars within those supplements.

Early energy drinks were mostly glucose based and research suggested there was little benefit to supplementing at levels greater than 60g per hour. This, it was thought, was due the carbohydrate transporters involved in the absorption of glucose being saturated at these levels. Fructose uses different transporters than glucose and may have a catalytic effects on carbohydrate absorption at low concentrations, so it is logical that combinations of both sugars are likely to deliver more carbohydrate to working muscles.

Whilst it was widely recognized that combinations of different sugars were likely to be beneficial to performance it was not until relatively recently that research attempts to quantify the likely benefits were conducted. Following the lead of Canadian researchers (Adopo et al 1985) the University of Birmingham conducted a whole series of experiments measuring the contribution of multiple transportable carbohydrates to energy production during exercise.

(Jentjens et al. 2004a, Jentjens 2004b, Jeukendrup et al. 2005).

• PREP The Birmingham researchers make a compelling case for the inclusion of multiple transportable carbohydrates into energy supplements. In probably the most widely quoted paper they were able to show peak energy contributions of 105g per hour when 50:50 mixtures of glucose and fructose were consumed at an average rate of 144g per hour. This was significantly more than when glucose monohydrate was consumed at half this rate and much higher than previous thinking thought possible. (Jentjens & Jeukenrup 2005) Although the highest energy contributions have been provided by high concentrations of glucose and fructose in a 1:1 ratio, most recent research focused on 2:1 ratios and these ratios have been widely employed in commercial formulations. Following on from

LIKE ALCOHOL BUT WITHOUT THE BUZZ

26

mechanistic studies a number of researchers have compared 2:1 formulations consumed at high rates with glucose monohydrate solutions concluding that it may offer a performance advantage in certain situations.

Other researchers have suggested that any performance advantage is more to do with the poor tolerance of the comparator drink. Invariably the comparator drink has been concentrated glucose monohydrate.

Most commercial glucose based energy drinks are designed to work at approximately 6% solution since when consumed at higher ‘hypertonic’ concentrations they tend to slow gastric emptying causing bloating and nausea. Comparator glucose drinks were similar to isotonic drinks made at 3 times the recommended concentration

and then consumed at high rates.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, they were not well tolerated, and in some of the early studies participants were sick or unable to finish them.

There is little data to suggest that high fructose drinks offer any performance advantage over more moderate or fructose free formulations when consumed at typically recommended levels.

One of the main advantages of high fructose formulations for the energy drink formulator is that they are intrinsically very sweet since fructose is approximately twice as sweet as sugar. However, for these formulations to offer any performance advantage over traditional glucose based drinks they need to be consumed at high rates. The obvious consequence of this is that fructose consumption reaches levels that many would regard as dangerous.

The widely published endocrinologist Robert Lustig who famously described fructose as ‘like alcohol but without the buzz’ suggests that consuming more than 50g of fructose per day is toxic (Lustig 2013). In comparison, researchers administered 95g of fructose in little more than an hour, and more than three times the suggested toxic dose in a 2.5 hour study to prove the ergogenic potential of these formulations.

Consumption rates such as these are likely to concern even those often opposed to Lustig’s alarmist statements, recognizing that fructose can cause adverse metabolic effects when consumed either in doses much higher than normal daily amounts, or ratios to glucose greater than 1:5. (White 2013) Many may hope that exercise will offer protection against any adverse effects of fructose consumption, after all the whole point of delivering the energy is to train or race harder. However, a 1999 study from the Spanish University of Cordoba suggests that exercise may not convey any immunity to the adverse effects of fructose consumption.

In

their study they gave glucose or glucose and fructose before either endurance or resistance exercise.

They found that the addition of fructose resulted in increased oxidative stress and inflammatory markers irrespective of the type of exercise performed.

High fructose drinks may however be hard to give up since fructose has been shown to differentially effect reward centers of the brain compared to glucose, so it may have addictive properties.

In some ways stimulation of reward centers of the brain may have potential benefits to improve mood and possibly sports performance.

However research just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that fructose consumers may become more interested in more food than other rewards. In their study (Lou et al 2015) human volunteers were more willing to give up monetary reward to obtain immediate high calorie food after consuming fructose than after consuming the same amount of energy in glucose.

Whilst fructose may therefore increase the likelihood of remembering to eat regularly during races, it may have

27

unexpected consequences on every day training decisions. Applying this recent work would suggest that faced with either completing those difficult hill reps or stopping at the café for cake, people may be more likely to take the cake option after consuming a high fructose gel for instance.

There is a sound rationale for the inclusion of fructose into sports drinks but it is possible to consume too much of a good thing. Riders should question whether they are in a situation to benefit from high fructose formulations, or if consumption has been influence by the less savory aspects of this unique sugar. In many situations it may be possible to optimize performance with more moderate or even fructose free formulations.

Those wishing to utilize high fructose drinks should think about reducing their fructose load in the rest of their diet. In particular it is possibly good general nutrition advice to limit the consumption of high fructose corn syrup soft drinks and confectionary.

Generally, there is no need to reduce the consumption of real fresh fruit. Natural fruit contains natural anti-oxidant phytonutrients that regulate the absorption of carbohydrate and protect against inflammation, so it is quite different than high fructose corn syrup or crystalline fructose.

Possibly more importantly, in its natural form it is often difficult to consume high quantities of fructose via real fruit. An apple contains approximately 10g of fructose but how many could you eat in one sitting? It is however worth considering the fructose and calorie contribution of those ‘healthy’ fruit juices and smoothies.

All references available: SPORTIFMAGAZINE.COM/REFERENCES

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• RIDES

30

MARINE LIFE

THE ISLE OF WIGHT 110KM

WORDS WAYLAND AUSTIN PHOTOGRAPHY WIGHTPOD

wrong. Introductions were made (first names only) and strong hands shaken.

The ferry ride over to the Isle of Wight was fast and flat, the Solent sparkling invitingly in the afternoon sun. 20 minutes later we arrived at the famous wooden Victorian pier at Ryde. This is a magnificent structure, which uses mahogany planks as the roadway – great in the dry but maybe a little slippery in the wet.

I’ve never ridden on the Isle of Wight and I was looking forward to seeing the island from something

MARINE LIFE I am not quite sure how I got invited to join this ride. Like so many good ideas, it started with a drink in the pub with a friend. Having ridden the Rapha Manchester to London ride late last summer, which took us through some glorious parts of England, we were discussing other interesting routes and places to ride our bikes.

In another life, this friend had an interesting and successful career in a special part of the Royal Marines. A keen and very accomplished cyclist, he kept in regular contact with his erstwhile

colleagues. His suggestion was to join a very special group of Royal Marines and Royal Navy personnel on their regular Wednesday ride.

Given that this particular group is based so close to the Isle of Wight, they try and organize a “quick spin” around the island as a group every couple of months.

The Isle of Wight isn’t the flattest part of the UK; the route around the perimeter of the island is some 110km and includes 1,700m of climbing. This was going to be some “quick spin”.

The instructions for meeting

were vague and were to be confirmed by telephone on the morning of the ride. I was to meet the group at 1pm in Portsmouth to catch the fast catamaran over to the island. I was at the appointed meeting point early and there was no sign of any other cyclists. The few day trippers I did see, looked at this solitary cyclist slightly suspiciously.

With seconds to spare, a group of riders swept into the square, recognizable by their physiques. I breathed a sigh of relief as I was beginning to wonder if I’d got the rendezvous point

other than the Portsmouth to Caen ferry. The wind was picking up and it was decided we’d tackle the route clockwise, heading east towards Bembridge and Shanklin. I hoped we would have a few km’s to warm up but the pace was fast from the gun. We climbed out of Ryde and the rollercoaster ride began. These guys were good; when they’re in the UK, a few of them ride as 2nd Cats and one was an international age-group triathlete. I was going to have to work hard to keep up.

My plan was to wait and watch and take my chances on the hills, as some of the guys were big and powerful – perfect to sit behind into a headwind!

The scenery is stunning.

Hugging the coast road it’s like stepping back in time as we come across sleepy villages and very few cars. The road surface is rough in places but in others, snooker-table smooth. This is a great place to ride a bike.

We pass through Vetnor and round the southern tip of the island, hit the steepest climb of the day, a 20% stinger that catches me by surprise, and turn into the wind. We form a paceline behind the Rouleurs as we pound along

31

the Old Military Road at 40kph.

This runs across the beautiful Tennyson Down, a whale-backed ridge of chalk which rises 150m above the sea, before running out to the Needles. We stop briefly at the Needles Battery, the fortifications built above the beach during Victorian times to defend the Solent from the West, and admire the view.

From here we turn back to the east and have the wind at our backs. We sweep through Yarmouth and the pace picks up. We follow the route through near deserted roads to Cowes.

Here, in another nod to the oldage charm of the island, we get a free chain ferry across the River Medina. The pace back to Ryde is ferocious, averaging 38kph over the last, lumpy 15km. The circuit is covered at an average of 30kph in 3 hours and 36 minutes.

We get the catamaran back to Portsmouth and retire to a pub in the old part of the docks for a very well deserved beer and bowl of chips. We say our goodbyes, my ride partners disappearing into the night as stealthily as they arrived and I get the train back up to London. I reflect on a fantastic day. The Isle of Wight is beautiful and, away from the main centres on the north coast, virtually traffic free and unspoilt. From where I started from, this ride is easily do-able in a day. It is well worth experiencing, at least once.

• RIDES

32

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL WORDS REANNE ATHERTON

There is a weekend in April that attracts thousands of cyclists to the ancient county of Rutland, which becomes a playground for both elite racers and sportive pacers. Located at the heart of East Midlands, crammed between Leicestershire, Northants and Lincolnshire, it is such a tiny county that I hadn’t even heard of it until recently.

Absorbed into Leicestershire and gaining its independence again in 1997, its beautiful stone villages mirror the Cotswolds that shares the same band of stone.

Also known for its natural beauty, Rutland is an ideal destination for cyclists. It is a perfect gem to be explored by cyclists of all abilities, with plenty of charms along the way to feast the eyes on.

Race fans know the county for its big international road race, the Rutland to Melton Cicle Classic. Known as Britain’s ParisRoubaix, it’s actually more like the Tro Bro Leon, full of farm tracks and unmade roads, a spectacular and challenging single day event and tough enough to have only

been won more than once by a single rider, Ian Wilkinson, since it began back in 2005.

Before this true test of pedal power happens the fun really starts the day before. Over 1,000 cyclists pound the roads on their own personal challenge. Whether this is to beat their mates time they set last year, their mates or to just cycle, complete the distance and enjoy a day out in the saddle.

The event HQ was beautifully situated at the impressive Rutland Water Park. By surface area Rutland Water is the largest reservoir in England and is a perfectly tranquil atmosphere in contrast to the eager, raring to go, cyclists gathered at the Giant Store Rutland Water. Getting over a thousand cyclists to become

involuntarily exposed to a store full of shiny new kit and bikes to drool over while they queued for registration is a clever trick. It was a little torturous but also inspiring to say the least.

My sportive buddy Sam and I were eager to get going and somewhere amongst the mass of multi-coloured and interesting choice of tight fitting outfits was a start line. The amount of people milling around was enough to make any cyclist get a nervous twang in their belly. The atmosphere alone was worth travelling for and made the thought of being in the saddle for hours less daunting.

I opted for the 57 mile route taking me through two counties, Rutland and Leicestershire, which included villages such as the ancient Whissendine and Launde along with its beautiful abbey, parts of which date back to the 12th century. The longer 78 and 104 mile options took in Rutland and the 3 surrounding counties too. How could it not with Rutland only 16.5 miles wide?

On the road I noticed there were quite a few ‘teams’ riding.

Groups with matching kit on a mission, as if on a tour de France stage, with only their support crew missing. I’ve mostly found that a sportive can either be made up of individuals in unknown territory or there can be groups of friends who are confident in their approach as if they know every segment that lines the route. Sometimes it can be lonely and the end can’t come soon enough or it can be sociable and you find you have reached the feed stop without really noticing the miles fly by.

When I’ve done some events on my own, I can be riding for a good few hours before a fellow rider stays around long enough

A PERFECT GEM TO BE EXPLORED

BY CYCLISTS OF ALL ABILITIES to chat, but this ride was busy. I was surrounded a few times which encouraged me to step it up a notch and weave to safety away from the congestion of the tight rural lanes. One positive thing about the popularity of this event was the reassuring comfort of not getting lost out on the course.

Unlike the race the following day the sportive was entirely on tarmac, probably a good thing with 1,000 in the saddle. The logistics of servicing a race with off road sections is hard enough but organiser ITP Events provide on road support and all feed stations were inside dotted amongst the village halls of Rutland.

Coming from Shropshire, I thought I would be pushed to find anything matching the rolling countryside there, but this was taking rolling to another level.

The hills were just as steep, Cold Overton and Somerby are real leg breakers. I became “Hill Meister”, powering hard down a slope to give me a fighting chance of getting up the other side.

Roughly 13 miles in at Cold Overton we reached the highest point on the route. The scenery was outstanding with the impressive vista opening up after the drop down through Nevil Holt and swinging east around half-way, skirting the Eyebrook Reservoir,

smaller than Rutland Water but most famous as the testing ground for the dambusters bouncing bombs in WW2, and then under the mighty Harringworth Viaduct.

Just as I had only the dregs left in my bottle, I spotted my favourite sign on a ride - the feed stop arrow – and it was glistening at me. The feed stop was top notch, in a great location and with hot drinks available they earned some brownie points from me.

You know you’ve had a good time, loved your bicycle and the event when you climb off at the end and still have time and the inclination to mooch around the bike shop just once more.

RU T L A N D

THE DARE 2B RUTLAND CICLE TOUR 57/ 78/ 104 MILES

33

• KIT

KINESIS

TRIPSTER ATR

£1499.99 FRAME & FORKS

Take a Trip…

WORDS DAVID HARMON

It has been an entire year since we heard Rory Hitchens at Upgrade Bikes waxing lyrical about the Tripster ATR and it’s taken 12 months to get hold of one to give it a try, such has been the demand from the media and dealers to put the bold ‘Adventure – Tour – Race’ claims to the test. Kinesis have been on a quest to prove that you don’t necessarily need a shed full of bikes, just one.

Conscious of the fact that at this rate we might not get another spin on the Tripster ATR, I took it, straight from the box, on a test track of gravel road, big full on rocky MTB descents, bridleway and tarmac climbs without tweeking the set up specifically for sportive riding and, bless its little titanium socks, it’s a truly gifted baby.

I don’t see any situation,

other than the need for speed in a Gran Fondo, in which the Tripster ATR wouldn’t build into a fantastic sportive or audax machine and, if I had the room in a garage clearly full of unnecessary bikes, I’d have one tomorrow.

counts. It just works.

This particular test mule has been built up using a range of cyclo-cross components including a 46/36 Shimano chainset and 12-32 cassette.

The smaller chainrings allow for a short cage rear mech that keep the changes nice and snappy.

Braking comes from TRP Spyre cable actuated disc brakes that to my mind are the current best non-hydraulic brakes on the market and the Crosslight CX Disc wheels they are bolted to are not unduly heavy and allow a huge variety of tyres to be fitted.

With the addition of Continental’s excellent 28mm GP 4000s rubber you can see the real potential of the Tripster ATR as a sportive machine.

Great poise and balance are its key strengths and I’d be

KINESIS HAVE BEEN ON A QUEST TO PROVE THAT YOU DON’T NECESSARILY NEED A SHED FULL OF BIKES, JUST ONE Titanium is a wise choice for a do-it-all frameset, purely from the point of view of longevity but it also gives the ATR a supple, zingy nature that matches its ‘let’s go play’ philosophy and it’s matched well by the carbon fork. The whole package simply flows through bends, sitting you slightly shorter along the top tube than your general sportive bike, with a low B/B and relaxed frame angles. It’s not light at over 10kg in this spec but it’s the way it carries that weight that

interested to build one up with both tarmac and gravel events in mind.

But the beauty of this machine is that Kinesis have got the one fundamental element of a bike absolutely nailed – the frame – the heart and soul of a bike. It is exceptionally accomplished in its aims. From there, how you build it up and what you build it into is entirely up to you.

— WWW.KINESISBIKES.CO.UK

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• RIDES

DARK ANGEL WORDS RICHARD HALLETT PHOTOGRAPHY CARL DAVIES

36

They look innocent enough, the Preseli Mountains. So innocent, in fact that they are often referred to as hills. Viewed from a distance they give the impression of a softer, gentler version of Dartmoor, one that won’t seriously trouble the seasoned sportive rider asked to tackle the 78-mile route that is the tougher of the Preseli Angel’s offerings.

The 2015 event itself took place on 2 May; earlier heavy rain had been displaced by a spring seamist hanging over the start line at Parrog, on the coast at Newport in Pembrokeshire. Entrants from local clubs and further afield chatted while waiting in a conedoff lane for the first group to depart.

Some had ridden the previous weekend’s Tour of Pembrokeshire and were eager to compare its 100 mile long route. The first major challenge came at Fishguard, where the main road reared up from sea level at a gradient that seemed ludicrous even at the nth time of riding up it.

The terrain inland from Fishguard is perhaps best described by comparison with a crumpled paper bag that has been half-heartedly flattened back out.

Short but viciously steep slopes run up and down between ridges of greater or lesser height, making it hard to judge, without knowing the roads, how much effort is likely to be required on the next hill.

One in particular seemed to go on almost indefinitely, the distinction between it and the next barely registering.

On the climb out of Puncheston, I was caught and passed by a couple of riders, the one behind apparently intent on staying with a much stronger partner. A tricky descent brought us to the second big climb, over the main B-road through the middle of the hills. One of those long, steady climbs over open moorland, it led to a descent noted by local cyclists for the high speeds attainable and for its several dodgy bends. The earlier sea mist had thickened to a light drizzle, making the drop-off even dodgier than usual.

At the feed that followed, I did a double-take; almost two hours of riding to cover barely 28 miles? At least my mate Graham, a steady starter, had not yet caught up. As

I left the feed, I heard him call my name as he pulled in. He could catch me in due course… On the pretty lane skirting the north of the hills and leading to Crymych, three more riders passed: two fully-kitted racers, one of whom was on the sort of time trial bike national champions dream of, and a solo young man batting along at much the same speed on a fullyrigid Trek MTB complete with flat pedals. Since there was no way he’d be able to maintain his cracking pace, I let him go…

At Soggyville – sorry – Crymych, it all went wrong.

Averting my gaze from the now heavy drizzle, I missed the left turn to Hermon and carried on blithely along the A478. This was something of a blessing, for although the A478 is a pretty grim highway, going off-course meant I avoided the horribly lumpy roads that lay beyond Hermon. And the legs were starting to feel very heavy.

Checking my whereabouts at a filling station, I headed west for Maenclochog where a warm thought struck; Graham must, presumably, be riding along wondering how it was that I was still ahead. Cheered by this, by the knowledge that my legs were a lot fresher than they would have been had I gone to Hermon and by the appearance of the sun, I got back into the spirit of the ride.

Off the B road to Fishguard, the route entered the valley of the Gwaun and, after a mile or so of proper lane-with-grass-downthe-middle, arrived at a hamlet unmarked on my AA atlas called Cwmgwaun. There was a pub and, before reaching it, a very, very steep hill up which we had to go. It got easier but went on a long way before arriving at the top of a

37

mountain. The view was almost as breathtaking as the descent, which involved sheep, gravel and bends in no particular order.

At the finish, I confessed my DNF and tucked into ‘spagbol’ cooked by a tame local chef before heading back to the finish line. TT god and his mate pulled in, the former announcing a ‘normalised’ output of 320 watts - or was it 420?

- as recorded by his crank-based power meter. As they chewed the fat with various awe-struck onlookers, Trek MTB lad arrived, keen to reassure the timekeeper that his five hours and one second time was genuine. I believed him, for sure.

Even more impressive was Graham’s calm acceptance of my straight-faced claim to have finished an hour ahead of him. And at least one finisher could be heard stating that the ride was as hard as the Tour of Pembrokeshire, which makes the Angel the winner on points, right?

— WWW.VELO-TEIFI.ORG.UK

DA R K A N G E L

PEMBROKESHIRE 78 MILES

• S P O RT I F

PEOPLE

car and van advertising but freely admits that the lure of the dancing chain was always there.

“Working for myself was fun but eventually I found myself virtually a recluse in my own workshop and knew it was time to make a life change, get back out on the bike and back to something I love” Shore now spends his days in Rutland Cycling’s state of the art fitting studio, mixing his instinctive knowledge of what works on a bike with the very latest in biomechanical knowledge.

“I’m hoping to go to the U.S. SPORTIF PEOPLE

ANDREW SHORE RUTLAND CYCLING

They say that cycling gets in the blood, something that never leaves you, a force for positivity and rebirth. If that is indeed true, you’d need to look no further than Andrew Shore for the proof.

A former schoolboy team cyclo-cross champion, elite offroader and friend to some of the finest riders Britain produced in the 1980’s, Shore breaks into

a characteristic ear to ear grin as we walk through the doors of Rutland Cycling, where he is now the senior bike fitting technician.

“When I came to apply for a job here I did a terrible interview,” smiles Shore, “then they asked me what bike I was riding. I spent ninety minutes telling them and at the end they said you’re hired” It’s typical of the Yorkshireman, utterly in love with cycling and always generous with both his time and his knowledge.

His passion is infectious, his knowledge enormous.

“I get a huge kick from being able to share the things I’ve learnt over a lifetime of riding. I was very privileged to have trained and raced with some great riders in my life and to see new riders falling in love with the sport just gives me a massive thrill.”

And what riders they were; riders like cyclo-cross legends David Baker and Tim Gould, Tour de France rider Adrian Timmis and Milk Race winner Chris Walker. Having hung up his race wheels in 1992, Shore started a business producing vinyls for

Stephen Roche Stephen Roche Cycling Holidays Mallorca

Cycling Holidays

5 Nights with Four Days riding 500 KM - 7,350mts of climbing 10 lighthouses

For all booking enquiries please email

TO SEE NEW RIDERS FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE SPORT JUST GIVES ME A MASSIVE THRILL in the near future and achieve the highest qualifications possible from the Specialized Bicycle Component University and bring that back here to Rutland Cycling. The more I can give back to this sport the better. It’s all about passion here, you can feel it in the air when you come in the door. I am able to empower new riders every day through my work or from just riding out with them on a Tuesday night and that, to me, is an amazing thing.”

— WWW.RUTLANDCYCLING.COM

tracey@stephenroche.com or Telephone 0034 971 683 665

• SKILLS

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THE ART OF SAFE CORNERING WORDS RICHARD HALLETT PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL DAVY PHIL O’CONNOR

Trouble is, actually going around a corner, especially on two wheels, is more of an art, or we’d all be able to do it equally well. Which, when one spends any amount of time watching footage of Fabian Cancellara, is surely not the case.

Of course, going around corners is something all cyclists (except

trackies…) do on every ride, so it’s not exactly an alien concept. It’s just that most of us don’t generally go around them any where near as quickly as we might or even as we would like to be able to. And what’s stopping us? Confidence.

Or maybe not. My first cycling crash (and many more since) involved entering a corner way too fast and finding the wheels slide out from under me. Others, less painfully, have involved entering a corner too fast and, anticipating the slide, heading for and ending up in whatever lay around the outside.

Either way, lack of confidence was not the primary issue. But that’s a personal failing. Others may find they lack the confidence to enter a corner fast and exit having concluded they could have gone faster.

If only there was a way to ascertain just how fast is feasible.

One such, and surely the most

reliable, is to go around the same corner time and again, taking it a little faster each time until the limit of tyre grips is reached and the rider either gets a slide and recovers it or gets a slide and falls off. This is fine on a circuit and explains why it is possible to reach extreme lean angles in a criterium or circuit race.

Out on the road, where each corner is either new or encountered for the first time that day, such aggression is likely to end in the ditch. And yet some riders still safely get around quicker than others. To do so they need, not simple lack of concern for personal safety, but the ability very quickly to gauge available grip, to visualise a line through the bend ahead and to judge how fast the available grip will permit the line to be followed.

Grip, of course, is the key. And it changes from day to day and even from hour to hour, which means it

must be appraised anew for each bend. Perhaps the least enjoyable long ride I have ever done was from Llucmajor back to Pollenca across Majorca in a rainstorm. The roads on the island are like wet marble in the rain and, even on long straights, there was a constant sensation of sliding around. Every corner, no matter how gentle, was a terror. But, by going very steadily indeed, all but one of our group got back without falling off. How, then, is it possible to discern how much grip is available? Let’s assume that the bend in question is to be taken at a speed slower than that along the straight preceding it.

The rider will have to slow down and, in doing so, will get a feel for available grip from the tyres under braking. Next comes the moment of turn-in, which itself requires countersteering. At this point it may become clear that the anticipated line is too tight and a

GOING AROUND A CORNER, ESPECIALLY ON TWO WHEELS, IS MORE OF AN ART wider one must be taken; in any case, grip must be determined before committing to a line.

Experience, of course, plays a big part in assessing grip, but it is possible to speed up the acquisition of experience on various road surfaces by practising, especially with braking. Assessment of line should come quickly to anyone

interested in developing it.

Look for a wide entry leading to a defined apex with a clear, obstacle-free exit. Bear in mind that a downhill bend on a bicycle will accelerate rider and machine while a flat bend will slow them down and that the line followed through them will differ in detail.

But, with practise, it is easy enought to gain an eye for a good (if not the perfect) line. So, at its most basic, going around a corner quickly and safely involves entering it on a good line at a speed at or just below that permitted by the adhesion between road and tyres.

Key to the former is the ability to pick out the entry point, apex and exit line, while key to the latter is the development of a feel for grip at the moment of corner entry, which itself is gleaned from braking prior to the bend. Assuming the amount of grip stays the same up to it and all the way through…

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peloton with a lot of talking going on when the road suddenly turned and all I could see in front of me was a forested mountain, so high that I had to lean my neck right back to see the sky. Amongst the trees, further up, I could see the sun reflecting off bikes. The road steepened, all talking stopped and all you could hear was the sound of shifting down to the lowest gear accompanied by swearing in many languages. This was the start of the climb of the Croix de Fer. Within the first kilometre of the climb, riders were seen riding back down the road - and they looked fitter than me.

WORDS MARTIN WATTS CS LLANYMDDYFRI

É TA P E D U T O U R

PAIN AND HEAT: L’ETAPE DU TOUR 1998

GRENOBLE > LES DEUX ALPES 189KM

The day the Étape du Tour went too far In 1997, following a long and unsuccessful but enjoyable 35 years of racing, I packed in racing and took up Audax riding - not as intensive, but still hard riding, especially over distances of 200km in Wales.

Encouraged by the experience, sometime in early 1998 I decided to enter l’Étape du Tour and signed up with Tony Doyle Pursuits. The route was a massive 189km from Grenoble to Les Deux Alpes with climbs of the Croix de Fer [said

by Stephen Roche to be one of the hardest climbs in the Alps], Télégraphe and Galibier and a mountain-top finish at Les Deux Alpes.

An early morning call at about 4.30am allowed us to fuel up on fruit, cereals and anything else we could swallow and leave the hotel at 6am to ride down to the start.

At this time of the morning the weather was a pleasant 12degC. The start was on reasonably flat roads, but before long we

were on a long steady drag up the Romanche valley. At this point everything seemed to be going well with conversations being struck up between riders. After an hour and a half of riding, of which the last half hour had been uphill, I asked another rider how far it was to the top of the Croix de Fer. The reply hit me; “we haven’t started climbing it yet”.

By mid-morning the temperature had reached 30degC. We had all been riding in a huge

The heat was so intense that I had to stop and cool down in the shade, standing close up to the sheer wall at the side of the road.

When we reached a small alpine village with a torrent of cold water running down the side of the road, I joined the queue waiting to use the stream to cool down my feet and hands. About a third of the way up the road suddenly descends (it was diverted following a landslip several years previously) before quickly going back up at close to 20percent.

Seeing a rider having medical help at this point was a bit worrying.

Gradually the road opened up and I could see the top of the col, which was about another 10km further on.

My legs were getting heavier and heavier and I decided to disconnect my heart monitor. About 1km from the top we passed a café; the owner was stopping us to give out water while saying something about there being no water at the top.

Struggling up the last few metres on 38/28 I was passed by an old French guy who appeared to be a caricature of the pre-war Tour riders – short, big calves, fighting his handlebars. He was spinning

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a small gear and as he passed he pointed to his chainset, saying “trois plateaux” (triple chainset). It was too late for me to change the chainset.

SEEING A RIDER HAVING MEDICAL HELP AT THIS POINT WAS A BIT WORRYING

• R E T RO

At the top of the col I was met by a mountain of empty mineral water bottles and was told by the marshals that there was no water, only Coke. On the way down I saw the aftermath of a crash where a motor cycle marshal had driven head-on into a car coming from the opposite direction. Some of the tunnels were a bit frightening with no lighting and plenty of pot-holed tarmac.

The first proper feed station was at the foot of the col in St. Jeanne de Maurienne, some 100km from the start. Riders were stretched out on the grass looking completely

44

knackered. Plenty of food was still available and so I stuffed my face and my jersey pockets.

Along the valley bottom a stiff breeze was blowing into our faces. At this point, struggling to do 12mph on a flat road, I became resigned to the fact that I was not going to finish. At the bottom of the col du Télégraphe I stopped under a bridge to try to cool down and was joined by other riders with the same idea. This meant holding position to avoid being pushed out of the shade.

I was amazed to hear someone shouting to me in Welsh; “How

is it going, Martin?” It was a friend from near my home town of Llanwrda. We agreed that we would get on the next sweeper bus and rode slowly till we were caught by an official, who removed our computer chips and instructed us to get on the first bus to stop, saying that if we didn’t then the organisers would no longer be responsible for us. Several buses passed but didn’t stop as they were full. Eventually one did stop and the driver unceremoniously threw our bikes inside. No one was talking.

By now full, the bus continued up the Télégraphe, passing hundreds of riders in various states of distress, many pleading with the driver to stop. At the top of the Galibier the bus was stopped by gendarmes, who checked to see if there was room for more riders.

We had none, but other buses were sent all the way back down the Galibier to pick up more riders.

At the finish we were off-loaded and the bus sent back to pick up more riders. Back at the hotel, I went straight to the bathroom, as all the energy foods had played havoc with my digestive system.

Looking at my feet while in the bath, I could see huge blisters under my toes caused by the continuous pressure on the long climbs.

Out of almost 5,000 starters fewer than 2,300 finished. The next morning, I met some Scottish riders who had taken credit cards with them and stopped overnight at a hotel on the route. This was an incredibly hard Étape and luckily the organisers learned their lesson for future events. My memories: met some great guys: saw some fantastic scenery; experienced pain and heat which I have never had before or since.

WORDS RICHARD HALLETT

The sixth edition of the Étape du Tour, which took place on 23rd July 1998, was always going to be a challenge from the moment somebody decided that the event, which annually takes on a mountain stage of the year in question’s Tour de France route, would follow the route of stage 15. Held a couple of days later, this was to be the stage on which Marco Pantani wrested the yellow jersey from Jan Ullrich on a day of heavy, cold rain. Instead, Étape du Touristes got the other extreme of mid-summer Alpine weather

and found themselves tackling perhaps the hardest-ever Étape route in temperatures that reached a baking 36degC on the slopes of the awe-inspiring col du Galibier.

It was a day on which all but the toughest of sportive riders struggled to finish, with fewer than half of the starters making it to Les Deux Alpes under their own steam. One unfortunate British rider spent three weeks in hospital in Grenoble afterwards, recovering from heat exhaustion. As Martin Watts explains, most of the damage was done on the first climb, that of the col de la Croix de Fer. The summit was 75km from the start,

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37 of them coming after the start of the col proper in Rochetaillée.

This meant some three hours of steady climbing before reaching the first refreshment stop, which only served fluids. Next came a fast and tricky descent before the first proper feed, followed by a long drag into the wind to the foot of the col du Télégraphe and the start of the real action. By this stage I had suffered hunger knock – on the Croix de Fer – and had recovered somewhat by pigging out at the feed and tapping along the valley while the food took effect.

All the way up the Télégraphe, I passed groups of despairing cyclosportifs huddled in any shade going. The feed in Valloire, at the foot of the Galibier, had a slightly desolate air, with plenty of spare grub and few takers. Riding 39x26, I crept up the Galibier’s lower slopes as far as Plan Lachat, where the road doubles back and gets very steep as it climbs a sort of bluff. Once over the lip, the full majesty of the climb is revealed.

For the next couple of hours I struggled with cramp and heat; others fared worse, many lying near-comatose beside the road in direct sunshine.

Deliverance arrived at the col itself. Refreshed by the thought of 25km of downhill, I got back into the ride, descending with a Johan Bruyneel wannabe until he nearly had a big spill and eased off. There was one more obstacle: the climb to les Deux Alpes. At a steady 12km, it is no Alpe d’Huez or Plateau de Beille, but I was taking no chances and scarfed a couple of strong black coffees in the café at the bottom before setting off, arriving after somewhere around 10h30’ to receive a finisher’s medal; one that was easily the hardest-earned of my sportive career.

• S P O RT I F

PEOPLE

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film not to stretch the tape. It should be applied using a constant light tension enough to keep it firmly pressed to the bar. In fact, the stuff is not very extensible and you’d need to pull hard on it to get it to stretch noticeably.

Once installed it looks superb, the embossed finish adding visual interest. It is, for sure, amazingly comfortable. The tape is offered in three thicknesses; 1.8mm, 3.2mm and the 2.5mm tested here.

The 2.5mm comes in 11 colours including black and white, while there are six for the 3.2mm and five for the 1.5. The one (hardly serious) gripe with the tape is that, like any

secured further investment and turned the café stop into what we hope is now a community. We only opened as a club in November 2014 and we already have 250 members. We’d like to be the first commercially run club in the UK and I think we can.”

With the inclusion of a mezzanine floor, Cadence expanded bike fitting - they currently undertake 160+ bike fits a month - pilates, yoga, physiotherapy, custom footbeds, sports massage, fitness testing and extensive coaching plans making Cadence more akin to a fitness club for cyclists than a traditional SPORTIF PEOPLE

FRANK BEECHINOR

CADENCE PERFORMANCE “I swore I was never going back into cycling, but here I am!”

The opening words of Frank Beechinor, joint founder of Cadence Performance in London’s Crystal Palace when Sportif caught up with him recently. Beechinor’s soft Irish tones can’t however hide the obvious pride he takes in where Cadence Performance find itself in 2015.

“I raced back home as a junior and ran a bike shop through my university days to pay for my education. Things were different back then, I think we had a very negative attitude to anything that didn’t conform to what we considered ‘cycling’. Thank goodness it’s not like that now.

Our whole philosophy at Cadence is about inclusivity.”

Beechinor and co-founder Ray Vella opened in 2012 to make riders feel special, regardless of ability or experience. After shelling out over £11,000 on bikes

in an established London shop, they returned a week later not even to be recognised and it was as if a light switch had been thrown.

“At that moment I knew the whole business was upside down, so we decided to do something about it,” says Beechinor, “We took on an old Mercedes showroom on Anerly Hill, opened a café with decent coffee and a few cakes and sat back to see what happened.”

“It wasn’t long before the trickle of riders coming to us turned to a flood and within 18 months we

bike shop, but then Beechinor has never been one for convention.

“We’ve just relocated the workshop right next to both the café and the front window. We want people to interact with us and feel part of it. It’s what modern cycling, and especially the sportive market, is all about” Cadence continues to break down the old barriers with regular maintenance courses, social nights, a Wattbike studio and star visits – they recently undertook footbed work for Nico Roche – as welcoming to women as men.

“I said I was never going back,” quips the Irishman, “ but I’m glad I have and the only thing I’m not going back to is the way cycling was!”

— WWW.CADENCEPERFORMANCE.COM

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LIZARD SKINS

DSP 2.5MM HANDLEBAR TAPE £23

WORDS RICHARD HALLETT

There’s bar tape, and there’s bar tape... It’s important stuff, affecting a bike’s appearance and its rider’s comfort and spirits. It gets dirty and needs to be easily cleaned; has to wrap around some tight, complex curves; should resist everyday wear and tear while being soft enough to cushion vibration reaching the handlebars; and, ideally, should be offered in a wide range of colours.

Lizard Skins Durable Soft Polymer bar tape meets all these demands with room to spare. Quite literally so; you get 2.26m of tape

per roll, which is enough for the rangiest of handlebars wrapped generously. It is, as the name says, soft. It’s made in two layers, the underside using some sort of compressible micro-foam while the topside is of a material with a feel that almost defies description.

It’s this soft outer layer that makes the tape special. Touch it and it feels almost tacky but isn’t, since it doesn’t ‘stick’. Perhaps ‘grippy’ is the word; even when wet, it offers plenty of grip for the hands.

It has an embossed finish, with the LizardSkins logo and a weave pattern moulded into the surface.

It’s important to note the alignment of the logo when fitting the tape in order to avoid that terrible faux pas, the asymmetric wrap. It’s also important to follow the instruction on the presentation

THE TOPSIDE IS OF A MATERIAL WITH A FEEL THAT ALMOST DEFIES DESCRIPTION synthetic wrap, it is easily ‘nicked’ by a sharp object. In this colour, the white underside then shows through.

Lizard Skins state a weight of 56g per set of 2.5mm tape, which is presumably for the full, untrimmed length and including the pleasing end plugs and finishing strip. While even lighter once the tape has been trimmed, it may not be the lightest available as claimed; a single layer of cloth tape is surely lighter. But nowhere near as comfortable...

— WW.2PURE.CO.UK

• NEWS

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N O RT H

LADIES OF THE LAKE

SAT 13TH SEPT Sportif had the pleasure of riding Ladies of the Lake last year and would recommend it to any woman wanting a friendly, inclusive cycle around beautiful parts of the South Lakes. The atmosphere at LotL was fantastic before and during the event with wine and soup provided afterwards to relax over. Sportif have been to many events but this one has stuck out as being something special.

Sportive Lakes have listened to feedback and have removed the dreaded steep hill climb for this year’s event.

NEWS

— WWW.SPORTIVELAKES.CO.UK

PHOTOGRAPH ‘GIANT’S CAUSEWAY’ INDUSTRY IMAGES

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N O RT H

LADIES ONLY CUPCAKE RIDE TOO SUN 4TH OCT

Reverting back to the incredibly popular 2013 route for this year’s event, Blue Giraffe promise to continue their trend of putting on events that are suitable for all abilities – whether it’s your first ride or 101st you’ll be made to feel welcome and part of a group whilst under Blue Giraffe’s proverbial wing. The event starts from Great Broughton & Kirby Sports Club at the reasonable time of 9am before taking in the sights of nearby villages such as the charmingly named Faceby, Rounton and Appleton Wiske before heading back in. The elevation chart promises a ride that will keep the riders interested without putting too much strain on the legs.

— WWW.BLUEGIRAFFEBICYCLES.CO.UK

N O RT H

N O RT H

BEALACH MOR CHALLENGE

GIANT’S CAUSEWAY COAST

SAT 5TH SEPT

Bealach na ba is the UK’s biggest road climb at 626m (2,053ft) from sea level in just 6 miles. Strava rate it a cat 2 and many who have toiled up it would agree, with a nasty 20% section near the top it may see a fair few riding the event off their bikes and pushing. The whole ride is 90 miles long and riders will have the opportunity to win the Red & Yellow jersey, the jersey will be awarded to the quickest up Bealach from bottom to top.

— WWW.HANDSONEVENTS.CO.UK

SAT 12 SEPT TH

PHOTOGRAPH ‘BEALACH NA BA’ STUART WILDING

N O RT H

N O RT H

SUN 20TH SEPT

SUN 11TH OCT

BIG LEEDS BIKE RIDE

FALLING LEAVES

Starting from the seaside town of Ballycastle in County Antrim there are three distances to choose from (57/126/182km), which gives cyclists of all abilities the opportunity to see some truly beautiful scenery. After the event there is the ‘Sportive After-Party’ taking place in Ballycastle which includes a free raffle entry for all riders – an excellent excuse for a knees up, if ever one was needed, with fellow riders.

Starting from Leeds’ most popular sunshine hangout, Roundhay Park, riders can choose from a 100 kilometre or 100 mile route in aid of Leeds Children’s Hospital. Both routes head to York along country roads with the longer route pushing on into the Howardian Hills before returning back via Tadcaster - on a breezy day the roads around York will prove challenging but enjoyable and on a sunny day there will be views as far as the eye can see. Good ride, great cause.

On the day there are two route options, a 38 or a 56 mile route which includes 860 metres of climbing. Riders will travel along the same route, creating an excellent starting atmosphere, until the feed station where the route splits, the longer route will head over the moors via a series of climbs. Blue Giraffe like to keep their entrants well fed and watered so not only is there a feed station but there’s post ride food and drink available too!

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GIANTSCAUSEWAYCOASTSPORTIVE.COM

WWW.BIKE-EVENTS.COM

WWW.BLUEGIRAFFEBICYCLES.CO.UK

• NEWS

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CENTRAL

CENTRAL

SUN 6TH SEPT

SUN 6TH SEPT

LE PETIT GRAND PRIX

LE GREAT GORILLA RIDE

Le Petit Grand Prix is the little sister of the main Lincoln Grand Prix Sportive which is held the day before the historic Lincoln Grand Prix elite cycle race in June. With four routes to choose from there’s something for everyone, from 34 miles right up to a challenging 106 mile route, none will have to endure Michaelgate, the cobbled hill climb, at the end like the pros.

Now in its third year, the three routes on offer will take riders on a tour of Northamptonshire and the surrounding counties most challenging climbs and descents.

Riders can opt for a 50, 75 or 110 mile route, all of which will end with a hot meal and a pint of beer – all in a day’s work! Each route will be fully signed with electronic chip timing and feed stations aplenty.

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WWW.ITPEVENTS.CO.UK

WWW.GORILLAFIRMCYCLING.COM

PHOTOGRAPH ‘HORSESHOE PASS’ TEJVAN PETTINGER

CENTRAL

SHROPSHIRE DEVIL 2 SUN 6TH SEPT

Two route options: 55 and 85 miles – the 55 mile option is labelled as ‘fairly flat’ however don’t be fooled, there are still 709 metres to ascend. Although this isn’t a lot over the distance, when there are 60 mile sportives with only 40m of ascent we wouldn’t like to make you think there won’t be hills! The 85 mile route has 1,529 metres of ascent which will put the climbers to the test. The Shropshire hills can be incredibly challenging, particularly on a wet and windy day, but if it’s a clear day you’ll be treated to exceptional views over Shropshire and Wales and quiet roads to ride on.

— WWW.REDKITE-EVENTS.CO.UK CENTRAL

WIGGLE ETAPE CYMRU SUN 13TH SEPT

PHOTOGRAPH ‘LINCOLN GRAND PRIX’ BRIAN TOWNSLEY

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Previously the Etape Cymru has been a closed roads event.

However the organiser, Human Race, have opened it up to enable a choice in routes. The ride starts and finishes in Wrexham with

all three routes passing through the Clwydian Range (an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) before taking in Horseshoe Pass – a Cat 3 over 6.1km averaging 5% gradient with a max of 20%, it’ll be challenging for all but bearable and with the climb timed it’ll give everyone a chance to win the King of the Mountain title. The three routes cover 111/169/221km and all are £35 for a limited time, and a reduced price if you pledge to raise money for the sportives official charity partner Macmillan Cancer Support. Human Race send all event entrants their race pack through the post meaning there’s no waiting around at the beginning to sign on.

Tracey riders will ascend 1,200 feet over 3.7 miles, the climb is a Tour of Britain favourite having appeared on it four times so far.

Every rider who completes Haytor Hill within 26 minutes will receive a KoM Pin Badge and Primal Europe who are sponsoring the stage will give 10 lucky KoM’s one of their Helix KoM cycle jersey’s aswell. Whether riding the 37, 67 or 112 mile route everyone will finish with a climb from the stunning Teign Valley before heading back up to Haldon and then onto the racecourse. Places are limited to 1,000 and the event has always sold out before so make sure you enter early to avoid disappointment.

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WWW.HUMANRACE.CO.UK

WWW.JUSTEVENTS.ORG

SOUTH

MOOR 2 SEA SPORTIVE SAT 5 SEPT

SOUTH

BIKE OXFORD SUN 13TH SEPT

TH

In its fourth year, the Moor 2 Sea sportive starts from Exeter Racecourse before taking the 1,000 riders through Haldon Forest and then on to the South Devon Coast. The longer two routes (67/112 miles) will both climb Haytor Hill which will be a timed stage. Starting from Bovey

20, 50 and 80 mile routes with much praised feed stations, taking in the best countryside in and around Oxford it promises to be a well organised day in the saddle. Starting from the Oxford Harlequins Rugby Club there are changing rooms, toilets, secure bike parking and food and drink available but unfortunately there

is no on-site parking so make sure you plan where you’ll park in advance to avoid a panic on the morning of the event.

— WWW.BIKEOXFORD.CO.UK SOUTH

BRISTOL 100 SUN 27TH SEPT

Don’t be put off by the name if you fancy riding something a bit shorter, the Bristol 100 also has 25 & 60 mile route options so it’s open to almost all abilities. Starting from the grounds of the beautiful Blaise Castle the three circular routes all skirt the edge of the Cotswolds before turning towards the flats of the Severn Valley, with additional surprises in store for the longer routes. The 100 mile route includes chip-timing and web results.

— WWW.BIKE-EVENTS.CO.UK