Indice dei contenuti per March 2015 in Cycling Plus

Do you remember what you were doing on Sunday 8 June last year? Chances are we were doing something very similar – attending a dry stone walling conference! Not really… I, like many of you, rode a bike. In my case records show that I did something called ‘Dull’ for an hour. The records in question are Strava, and as my memory is hazy, and there’s no accompanying date, I’m assuming it was a turbo session in my garage. Why 8 June? According to Strava this was the most popular day of cycling in the UK in 2014: 63,244 app addicts recorded a ride that day totalling 3,579,000km. That’s an average of 57km for that day. (I wasn’t close!) Strava’s UK stats for 2014 are fascinating – highlights include 96,000…

Rest your head here... The Strickland Arms Just a few miles south of town and highly recommended by and for cyclists – well, it was good enough for Team Sky! Where Great Strickland, Penrith thestricklandarms.co.uk Stop for cakes here… Hartside Top Cafe This summit stop is England’s highest cafe and for that reason alone worth a visit. You’ll need a refuel anyway, after scaling the pass. Where Hartside, Alston Tel: 01434 381036 Get spare tubes here Arragon’s Cycle Centre Arragon’s has a reputation for helping out C2C riders in distress. If you need a new bike, it stocks Scott, Genesis, Van Nicholas and others. Where Brunswick Rd, Penrith arragons.com Fancy a pint? Moo Bar If it’s beer you want, look no further. An ever-changing line-up of six real ales, plus…

“I TEXT HIM TO TELL HIM ‘IT WILL BE NICE TO HAVE YOU BACK MAN’ AND HE JUST WROTE BACK SAYING ‘CAN’T WAIT’.” Team GB performance director Shane Sutton is looking forward to Bradley Wiggins’s full-time return to the track “HE USED TO LOOK LIKE A BEAR ON A TRICYCLE, KIND OF COILED UP. WE REALLY WORKED ON ELONGATING HIS POSITION.” Specialized’s bike fit expert Dr Andy Pruit says we should expect a different looking Peter Sagan this year “I REALLY THINK THE PRIME MINISTER, HE’D BE ADVISED TO GET A DIFFERENT SPORT. I ENCOURAGE EXERCISE, BUT RIDING A BIKE?” Graeme Killer, former doctor to Australian PM Tony Abbott (above), believes his hobby is too risky for a man in his position…

DR ZAK’S HIGH PROTEIN BAGEL GOOD BOY The Londonbased body-building food company is interested in all things protein and its new bagel is claimed to be ‘the first high-protein bagel in Europe’. High protein here means 24g and a claimed 40 per cent less carbohydrate than your typical bagel. BAD BOY Though it’s high in protein and low in carbohydrate, the sugar level (4.2g) is comparable with other brands. The fat level is actually way higher in one of Dr Zak’s bagels – 8.1g compared with around 1.3g in a leading competitor’s. It is low in salt, though. VERDICT As a post-ride protein hit Dr Zak’s bagels are worth your attention, but the indulgent fat content perhaps betrays its target audience in the body-building world. WORK IT OFF Cycling at…

£7992.77 >Technical writer Robin Wilmott upgrades his Ridley for a very long ride Although in its original form the Helium SL never failed to impress, when I was offered the chance to ride Rapha’s new Manchester to London Challenge at the tail end of the summer, my need to upgrade it gained urgency. Faced with a 220-mile day in the saddle, I needed something quick and efficient that could climb well, and look after me for hours. I’d already fitted a set of Zipp 202 Firecrest clincher wheels (1), which are super-light, aerodynamic and stable, with decent braking, and on hearing that there would be a lengthy gravel section, I went for an all-round tyre choice, Vittoria’s rugged Pave CGs in a 25mm width offering added air volume and reassuring…

WORKSHOP in association with MUC-OFF Before press-fit bottom bracket systems became commonplace, the vast majority of good quality road bikes used external bottom brackets, and a great many still do. Characterised by bearing cups that sit outside the frame, external bottom brackets are very home mechanic-friendly, requiring only a few inexpensive tools to remove and replace. High quality, well-sealed models can last years, but lifespan is heavily dependent on how they are treated. For example, a cyclocross bike that’s subjected to lashings of mud and pressure washing might need a new one every month, while a race bike that sees only sunny Sundays might manage multiple seasons without intervention. 1 SLEEVE, SPACERS OR SEALS The Chris King bottom bracket pictured uses a nylon insert to give the crank spindle a…

01 HAUTE ROUTE PYRENEES DATE 15-21 August DISTANCE 504 miles Just as the Tour de France alternates between clockwise and anticlockwise directions each season, the Haute Route series, now arguably the leading multi-stage sportive in the world, is being flipped on its head for 2015. The Pyrenees event will now start, rather than finish, in Anglet on the French Basque coast and head over seven stages to Toulouse, replacing Barcelona as a host village this year. Scaling what could be described as a greatest hits of Pyrenean climbs, including the cols d’Aubisque, Marie-Blanque and Tourmalet, the 400 or so riders taking part are, as usual with this event, in for a treat. The longer-established Haute Route Alps has become their premier event, with entry sales to match, making the Pyrenees…

Ga toch fietsen! = Why don’t you go ride your bike! Meaning: Go to hell Op een oude fiets moet je het leren = You have to learn on an old bike. This has a sexual connotation: when you are young and inexperienced and you are sleeping/have slept with someone older and therefore likely more experienced than you, that person can teach you a thing or two Wat heb ik nu aan mijn fiets hangen? What’s hanging from my bike? Meaning: What just happened to me? Mijn ... is fietsen: My (eg phone) went for a bike ride. Meaning: My phone is gone/missing/has disappeared, when you’ve lost something Een fietsenrek hebben = to have a... Meaning: A fietsenrek is a bike rack so if you say that a person has…

The morning was overcast as we pulled up to NBKC – North Brooklyn Cycles. This shop in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn is where we’d arranged to meet up with the @fixmylifeNYC crew for a true ‘locals only’ cycling tour of the city. City Hall has been trying to transform New York into a more bike-friendly place for tourists, but to get the real NYC bike experience, we’d found some young dudes on Instagram who ride the city like their own personal playground. Much like online dating, you never know who you’re going to meet on Instagram, but these guys seemed legit. The crew was about 25 strong, a mix of roadie conversions and fixed-gear fanatics who had the nervous energy of horses in the starting gates. NBKC has the…

GOING LONG We’ll have to ride further than ever if we want to break those Strava records. Luckily we’ve got plenty of advice on how to go about doing just that as depe ed Paul begins his road to Paris-Brest-Paris by seeking endurance advice from the experts on p98 IT’S A GOAL Talking of PBP madness, it’s high time we all set ourselves a goal for 2015. If you’re struggling for inspiration, check out the 10 epic events we think you should ride, starting on p174… from the Pyrenees to Yorkshire, there’s something for everyone WET WET WET Britain in January seemed like the ideal place and time to check out rain jackets, and so it proved. See the best on p134. Hopefully the miles ridden in the wet in…

Dijon may be best known for its mustard namesake, but it’s also home to Lapierre, a manufacturer with almost 70 years’ experience building bicycles. Both on and off-road, the company has made a name for itself with intriguing and innovative designs. Its machines are the weapon of choice for the FDJ pro cycling team, home to such talents as Thibaut Pinot. In recent years, Lapierre has done extensive research in partnership with aerodynamics specialists ACE (Aéro Concept Engineering), whose expertise comes from a background in Formula 1. Starting with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis, the airflow around the bike and rider is modelled and optimised, before prototypes are built and tested in the wind tunnel, allowing further refinement. The Aircode is the result of its latest efforts, and it’s every…

ZAPPI’S BIKE CAFÉ If nipping around Oxford’s dreaming spires has left you hungry and thirsty, here’s the place to stop and refuel WHY Zappi’s, above Bike Zone bike shop in Oxford, evolved from a cafe set up by ex pro Flavio Zappi. After a ride round the country lanes of Otmoor, Murcott and Islip you can cruise through the back streets for coffee and cake at this cyclist-friendly cafe. YOU SAY “Speciality teas, smoothies and great coffee, along with modestly priced carb-loading cheese toasties and to-die-for chocolate brownies. All with the chance to talk cycling with like-minded folk and browse the bike shop downstairs.” HIGH5 SPORTS NUTRITION Get your favourite cake stop published and win this High5 prize: a jar of EnergySource, one Race Pack, three tubes of Zero and…

YEAR WE GO Strava users can now chart their shortterm progress with annual segment achievements, rather than just ‘all-time’ records. While your PBs will live on, Strava believes annual records, presented as hollowed-out trophies to those familiar with the app, will allow riders to better track their form and motivate them to new heights. THIEF TRACKER Little is more vexing than having your bike nicked, but a new pedal can help you keep track of thieves. The pedal, from French firm Connected Cycles, uses GPRS, via a mobile app, to display the movement of your stolen steed. It can only be removed using a special tool, though crafty criminals may just resort to removing the crank. LID ALERT Volvo, in collaboration with Strava, POC and Ericsson, has developed a helmet…

MOST WANTED QUARQ MATTER Quarq’s Elsa RS expands on the SRAM-owned company’s three existing road crank-based power meters and its two retro-fittable power measuring spiders available for Specialized and Cannondale cranks. But until now, though Quarq units could be used with any drivetrain, they would only accept SRAM or SRAM-compatible chainrings. The new hollow carbon Elsa RS has been designed specifically for Shimano’s current four-bolt chainrings, increasing the power measuring options for Shimano users. We replaced an Ultegra 6800 crank with the Elsa RS unit, simply removing the 24mm axle adaptors to accommodate the larger BB30 axle in our frame. There’s also a GXP axle version, and six crank lengths from 162.5mm to 177.5mm. Our 175mm Elsa RS weighed 623g including a spacer and preload adjuster, an increase of just…

TOPEAK £4.99-£7.50 each These come in 43 and 78mm lengths, and screw directly onto the valve cap thread. They have a clever captive rod system that lets you open and close the valve remotely – but this does rattle around a bit if you don’t fit a valve cap. They’re also wider than most, and don’t fit all rims. www.extrauk.co.uk MICHE £12.99 pair Miche’s version is a standard removable core type, which works well as long as everything’s done up tight. They’re available in lots of different lengths, from 25 to 70mm. The red anodising isn’t that tidy and there’s no core removal tool provided, but they get the job done. www.chickencycles.co.uk WELDTITE £8.99 pair Weldtite’s extenders are characteristically no-frills, with a neutral silver finish. They work with removable valve…

WE SAY... Good all-rounders but they might be trying to cover too many bases Rather than following a barely established trend towards road disc wheels, Halo is ploughing its own unique furrow and offering what it says is a future-proof package. The Carbaura RDX wheelset is available in three rim depths, 38mm, 50mm and 58mm, and we’re testing the shallowest 38mm option. The wide, full unidirectional carbon clincher rims are, unusually for carbon, tubeless ready, and although we tested them with disc brakes, the RDXs also include a conventional braking track, so can be used on any bike with rim callipers and Halo’s specific pads. The width at the braking track is 25mm, bulging to almost 28mm at their widest point, a shape recognised for lowering drag and increasing stability.…

Paphos Airport, Cyprus, February. Only five hours earlier we had shuffled out in a line from the Edinburgh airport terminal, bent forward into a freezing wind like Stalag prisoners heading out on a work party. The plane was being battered by sleet and climbing the steps brought gusts ferreting up my trouser leg, hurrying me through the door to warmth. This was what we had been riding in for the last few months, and it was wearing mighty thin. Now, in Paphos, we stood tall in that same plane doorway soaking up a late afternoon sun, breathing in the almost unbelievably exotic 20-degree heat. Broad grins spread across our faces as we took to the steps in a sea of silver heads – our plane was overwhelmingly populated by retired…

There was a time when Cannondale bikes carried a price premium. Not now. Since it moved manufacturing to the Far East its pricing has become more competitive, and it claims that the CAAD8 is the lightest frame in its class. True, it has lost the ultra-smooth welds that ’Dale’s US frames were famous for, but its construction quality is still first-rate. As, crucially, is the ride. Cannondale, along with Klein, was one of the pioneers of mass-market aluminium road bikes back in the 1980s, and that long back story is put to good effect here. That era’s down-tube shifters are long gone, but the oversize down-tube is present and correct – and larger than ever. The ride is sharp, fast and true, in the saddle or out. No flex, no…

RAIL AGAINST 1 Some things don’t exist for a reason and looking at CycloCable, we think it should have stayed on the drawing board. tinyurl.com/cp-cyclocable WACKY RACES 2 The Strava of indoor training? Zwift is currently in beta testing but we can’t wait to try it out. tinyurl.com/cp-zwiftturbo ONE IN A MILLION 3 This is like one of those action film sequences where the hero somehow emerges unscathed on the other side... tinyurl.com/cp-chinalorry RUNNING RINGS 4 Peter Sagan pulls out all the stops to impress Italian world trials star Vittorio Brumotti. tinyurl.com/cp-psagan…

GOOD PRIOR ENGAGEMENT England cricketer Matt Prior pipped Fernando Alonso to the post in the unofficial ‘international sports star taking charge of a cycling team’ race. Prior will be the chief executive of ONE Pro Cycling, the new British Continental outfit captained by Yanto Barker. LOAN RANGER Tour de France legend Bernard Hinault helped launch the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries initiative. It aims to make cycling accessible to all by asking folk across the county to donate unwanted bikes. Not-for-profit groups will be able to bid for funding to run libraries that will loan out the bikes for free. THAT’S CAPITAL! Hurricane Bertha may have reduced its distance but it couldn’t put a dent in RideLondon’s 2014 fundraising. Quite the opposite, in fact. Over £10m was raised, £3m up from…

@TeamSky We’re pleased to announce Bradley Wiggins will ride with us until #Roubaix 2015! @steve_abraham74 84 miles in the bag. Celebrating 1st 1000 miles at Frankie and Bennys in Spalding @alexdowsett Op is going to take an hour apparently, irony at its best #PerfectHour @chrishoy Becoming a Dad has brought me so many moments of sheer joy. Like 2day when I realised I can park in the parent&child spaces at supermarkets @chrisfroome Congrats to my teammates @richie_porte & @Petekennaugh on getting engaged over the last few days (not to each other) All the best!! @taylorphinney Turn oven on, power goes off. I’m back in Europe! @Doctor_Hutch For the Tour of Cambridgeshire TT in June, bikes have to be UCI compliant, but there won’t be any checks. So Scouts’ Honour everyone…

With a new season and more daylight just around the corner, it’s time to take your riding to a new level and up your mileage. This year sees an increase in the number of UK multi-day sportives, while traditional audax events continue to flourish and overseas monsters such as the Haute Route become ever more popular. It’s also, as I am very much aware having been publicly committed to the task of riding it last month by our esteemed editor, a Paris-Brest-Paris year. So how do we make the jump from getting out for an hour to riding a century; from riding a century to putting in a 12-hour day; from putting in a 12-hour day to riding several days in a row; and even from there to riding several…

PACK A PICK-HIT Ahead of your ride stock up on carbohydrate sources including ‘real’ food – bananas, figs, dates – or formulated products such as powders mixed with drinks, gels and bars. “The majority of riders should aim to consume 30-60g per hour in the saddle – and research also suggests that you should aim for a 6-8% carbohydrate concentration in the fluids used,” says Hewitt. ALL-DAY BREAKFAST “Mimicking race-day nutrition in training ensures your gut stays adapted to the higher amounts of carbs you may consume in competition,” say Hewitt. “Aim to consume carbohydrate mainly in solid form (such as in bars) at the beginning of the ride, then move to fluid carb drinks and gels towards the latter part of the ride when fatigue begins to accumulate.” KEEP…

We’re stood outside Amsterdam’s central railway station at 9am and the rush-hour traffic is dying down. Unlike the majority of Britain’s larger cities, London especially, there are hardly any traffic jams here, no doubledecker buses and few people walking. That makes it sound like a very quiet city yet there is a constant flow of people everywhere you look – they’re all on bikes. The sheer number of bikes is what strikes you most vividly when you arrive in Amsterdam. Like the slot machines in Las Vegas and red buses in London, bikes are everywhere you look. Bikes parked, bikes being pushed and, most of all, bikes being ridden. It seems as though everyone of any age is out on their bike, riding on the multitude of bike paths, casually…

GETTING THERE We travelled on EasyJet, with return flights from Edinburgh starting from around £120, depending on when you book (EasyJet also flies to Paphos from Bristol, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester). We booked nearer the departure dates and it edged up to nearer £300, so book early and make sure you prepay for a bike. Check the terms and conditions, but the bike bag seems to have a generous 30kg limit, so we piled all our gear into that and travelled only with hand baggage. WHERE TO STAY Cyprus is covered in well-priced accommodation, with numerous hotels and apartments. Cyprus Tourism – visitcyprus.com – is a good starting point. Sean works as a sports consultant for the luxury Almyra Hotel in Paphos, which offers five-star accommodation at reasonable prices. This…

TIME 30 minutes DIFFICULTY Easy TOOLS Allen keys to suit MATERIALS Cable-ties Pipe lagging Bubble wrap Ga_er tape Plastic frame spacers Most airlines require bikes to be boxed or packed in a bike bag for travel. A decent bike bag or box will cost anything from £50 to over £400, which is worthwhile if you plan to holiday with your bike more than once, or even if you regularly transport your bike by train, bus or car. They’re also an excellent option for long-term storage. Cardboard bike boxes should be easily available for free from your local bike shop (although some like to charge for their waste disposal). These offer decent protection but either need to be folded down and rebuilt or stored at the other end so you can…

ALBANIA We hadn’t much clue what to expect but it was such a pleasant surprise. It’s a very poor country and was one of the last to come out of communism after the fall of the Soviet Union. Horse and carts are still a popular way of getting around. But there are incredible mountains and the people are so friendly. Despite it being in Europe and bordering Greece, we could really have been in the middle of central Asia. We were only there for a week but of all the countries we visited it’s high on our list of those we want to go back and explore further. TURKEY We spent seven weeks there, heading 1000 miles from west to east. Winter arrived as we got there and temperatures were…