It's not Alpe d'Huez but at 25% gradient it's a lot steeper...

The temperature rose to 25 degrees here in Yorkshire. It’s the first time this year, I’ve not worn more than 2 layers of clothes. It’s hard to avoid cycling up hills in this part of Yorkshire. It’s great country if you’re looking to get fit.

Yesterday, I rode 70 miles around Otley, Pately Bridge and Burnsall. There were a couple of really long hills such as Greenhow Hill, with 3 sections of 16%. It took 11 minutes to climb

This photo is of the climb from Lofthouse to Masham which is closer to 25% at its steepest section. Climbing this kind of gradient really wears you out; it’s very different from riding a flat time trial. But, cycling up hills and descending is great fun.

Sheep Block Road

This is the charm riding in rural Yorkshire, a flock of sheep block the road on the way down from Gouthwaite Reservoir.

Grade II listed Toilet

On long rides, a hedge or tree usually provides the necessary environment for the calls of nature. But, here in Lofthouse, I was surprised to find this buildin was actually a public toilet. I remember from a previous visit it was a listed grade II building. Anyway a nice change from furtively slipping behind a hedge.

The road to Middlesmoor

Great views and quiet roads during the week.

Lofthouse

Nidderdale

Pateley Bridge

More pictures of Yorkshire at Yorkshire - God’s Own County

Cycling in Yorkshire Dales

Pedaling a Velib Bike

Here a man is pedalling a free bike hire bike by Velib (well, free for first 30 mins). They were quite common in Paris and seem to indicate a fairly successful bike hire scheme.

Cycling in Bastille

Cycling through Bastille, there is a very good ice cream shop near here.

Fighting through traffic

A woman weaving her way through stationary traffic. This was taken outside Gare Du Lyon on a Saturday afternoon. It was quite a chaotic scene, French car drivers are quite liberal with the car horn, the traffic was mostly stationary and cyclists were weaving through the stationary traffic.

A serious cyclist departs the ice cream cafe

On the one hand the French have a good attitude to cycling. It is one of the biggest sports, and the Tour de France a national institution. They have some decent bike lanes around the city - they are actually proper bike lanes rathern than 10 metres of pathetic cycle lane we often get in the UK. But, on the other hand the French driver seems quite temperamental and some places (not least the Champs Elysees roundabout seem v. dangerous)

On a Sunday, a 2 Km stretch by the River Seine is closed off to traffic making a good place to cycle. I’d like to see some British cities try this

Looking back through the training diary, it can remind you of epic rides.

• Stow On Wold - 105 miles, 5:20:08, av. Sp 19.1 mph may not mean much to many, but it reminds me of a great ride 4 years ago. Just seeing that one line in the training book can recall memories of a ride long ago.

Cycle Computers can have their disadvantages, recently, I’ve been paying alot of attention to average speed. Finishing with an average speed of 21mph feels great. But, to maintain the high average, I’ve been choosing faster, busier roads. They are not that busy, but, if I didn’t have a speedo, at least sometimes, I would choose, quieter, hillier roads.

There was also a time when I would put down every single ride, in the training book, - even a 3 mile commute into town, but, when my computer on my commuting bike broke, I never replaced it. Somehow using a speedometer for a slow 3 mile commute into town doesn’t seem worth it. As a commuter I’ve become slower, especially since I started using a canal bank for the commute. When you’re going slow you don’t really want to be told, your doing 12mph.

I used to check the cycle computer at regular intervals during a ride, but, now pretty much ignore it until the end.

I’ve found cycle computers quite prone to breaking down, and the watch function is usually bad at keeping time.

On my racing bike, I have a speedometer, but the clock is 1hour 35 minutes late. Knowing it is this late, it’s always a mental challenge trying to work out my start time for a time trial, adding 1 hour 35 minutes onto my start time.

Although they might have the odd drawback, I see a cycle computer as a pretty indispensible item for any bike.

Cycle Computers I Recommend

• Cateye Strada Wireless - £31.99
• Cateye Vectra Wireless - £22.99 - one of the cheaper wireless computers, with enough functions and Cateye computers are quite easy to set up.

Cycle Computers Cadence

Cadence is a good function computers can give. Many cyclists would benefit from practising cycling at a higher cadence, you can count and look at a watch but it’s much easier with a computer. Cadence cycle computers use the rear wheel so they double up as a good tool for turbo trainer

• Cateye Strada - Cadence computer - £31.99
• All cateye Cycle computers at Wiggle

Related

• Using cycle computers in time trials
• Best Wireless cycle computers

So speedometers can be fun, but don’t become a slave to them.

There was a time when I spent quite a bit of time reading and posting on a few cycling forums. But, when I started to have my own cycling blog, I lost the habit, and now try and use them as a source of information - very rarely posting anything but trying to find some information.

Some Observations of Cycling Forums.

Endless Debate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thread where everyone agrees. Whatever the topic, you will get different opinions. If it is about doping. Opinions will range from ‘everyone’s at it’ to ‘Cycling’s the cleanest sport’. Sometimes you think people like debate for the sake of it. The problem is that if your looking for advice, you can read a thread with many conflicting ideas / opinions. After reading some threads, rather than gaining any useful information I just left confused - although maybe that’s me, I mean I have got confused between Km and Miles in the past… But, when every Tom, Dick and Harry gives his opinion it can be difficult to learn anything. There’s probably good stuff posted, but, it’s hard work separating the wheat from the chaff.

It Can be Addictive. Sometimes I go to a cycling forum to find a result of a race and before I know it I’m reading a thread about the relative merits of a riding on a dual carriageway in Essex. I’ll never visit this dual carriageway in Essex, yet I end up spending time reading about traffic flows on the A46 like it actually meant something to me.

It’s easy to criticise. It’s easy to criticise and forums have more than their fair share of criticism for just about anything.

Sometimes Humorous. The only thing that saves cycling forums is humour. You can easily take yourself too seriously writing on forums. At least humour can puncture some of the more absurd opinions and egos.

Sometimes they can actually be useful. On very rare occasions, cycling forums can be really useful giving you a piece of information that you can’t find anywhere else. Where else could I find the weight in grams of a Shimano Dura Ace, 9 spd rear mech - except on a cycle forum dedicated to talking about the weight of cycling components? Weight Weenies I once asked a question where a course was, and within 5 minutes someone had asked all my questions. The problem is that to get the useful piece of information, you often spend 15 minutes getting sucked into useless threads.

Types of People Who Use Cycle Forums

Mr Know It All. Mr Know it all with the correct answer to any question and opinion on anything from under 13 MTB races to the best type of disc wheel. His knowledge is encyclopedic and he likes to have the last word. If he spent as much time training as he did on the cycling forum, he would probably be in the Olympic Team.

Mr Controversy. Mr Controversy will always throw a spanner in the works. Whatever the topic he will manage to turn it into another pointless debate.

Mr Optimistic. Undeterred by endless debates and criticism on the forum Mr Optimistic will gain great joy from sharing his 30 minutes training ride to the local shops. If only cycling forums were all filled with this enthusiasm.

there are many more

Cycling across the Channel

An interesting site by Yvon Le Caer. In his earlier days Yvon Le Caer raced on the continent as a pro. Later he retired to America and took up the challenge of cycling on water. One challenge he successfully completed was to cycle across the English Channel from Cherbourg To Poole (75 miles as crow flies, 92miles in event. The crossing took 16 hours 42 minutes.

It’s certainly a great achievement. I can’t say I’ve heard of many who have cycled across the English channel. As well as the athletic challenge there are also the great logistical challenges - not least avoiding one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. His attempt gained him entry into the Guinness World Record book.

Yvon racing in Europe

Yvon Le Caer biography

A model bike rack at Leeds Central train station. Bikes are highly visible and close to the train terminal. This helps protect against theft. The bikes are covered from the rain and although it is well used, there is space for more bikes. The U frames also enable you to lock the bike frame.

The great advantage of bikes over cars is that they take up much less space. (see: pic space taken by bikes and cars) Parked cars frequently reduce half the width of a road, turning a reasonable sized road into a one way system. If parked cars were replaced with parked bicycles, there would be a huge improvement in traffic flows as so many roads would be effectively widened.

Competition for bike parking in Oxford is intense meaning that bikes often spill onto the pavements

Yet, despite, the low space required by bikes, parking for bikes is often inadequate and cyclists find no suitable places to park. This is a typical scene outside Lincoln college.

Abandoned bikes often contribute to the problem of bike parking. A high % of parked bikes are abandoned, you can tell by their rust and broken components.

Bike Parking taken to extremes

Restrictions on bike parking are OK, if there are realistic options for alternative parking.

more pictures of cycling Oxford

A slow recovery ride

After a 50 mile TT on Saturday my legs have felt heavy this week. Usually after a long ride I like to go out the next day to spin the legs. Light exercise is one of the best ways to aid recovery and avoid getting too stiff. Because I was staying near the Yorkshire Dales with my parents I ended up riding 40 miles to Burnsall and Grassington. It was more of a tourist ride than a training ride, averaging 17mph and taking time to take a few photos e.t.c. After racing yourself into the ground it’s nice to ride a bike just for the sake of enjoying it. 40 miles is quite a long recovery ride. But, just going out for an hour can help.

View from Wharfe Valley

A short ride is particularly helpful if you have been racing and have accumulated lactic acid in the legs. A steady ride can help to get rid of the lactic acid. But, even if you have just ridden a long ride, a short ride the next day can help.

Post Ride Recovery Drinks

During a long ride,  you may have become dehydrated and depleted your carbohydrate stores. You may not feel like eating and drinking but your body may need it. In this case recovery drinks can definitely aid recovery. Typically, they have a mixture of protein and carbohydrate. Most people think about food and drink before a ride, but, neglect proper rehydration and nutrition after a ride. But, this time period is important for helping the muscles to recover. We should always think we are eating for the next day. The problem with recovery drinks is that they may not taste too good and it can be a hassle to mix the powder and drink. But, to aid the fastest recovery they will help. It is also good to just eat sensibly. After a long ride, I often start eating easy to digest fruit like melon, apple. If it has been very hot and sweaty, I will make sure I take something salty.

Recovery Drinks at Evans Cycles

Stretching and Recovery.

After a long ride and tired muscles, stretching seems the natural thing to do and try and relieve the tired muscles. Stretching exercises

Massage and Recovery.

Massage is very effective for aiding recovery. Every professional team will have a professional masseur. See if you can persuade a close friend / partner to learn the art of massage.

Principles of training - stress and recovery

No, it’s not some belated April Fools joke. A town in Germany has actually made the leap to being a car free town, where cyclists and pedestrians have the right of way. Vehicles are only allowed in to make deliveries at certain times of the day.

image by Carnotzet

In Vauban, a suburb of the university town of Freiburg, luxuriant beds of brilliant flowers replace what would normally be parking outside its neat, middle- class homes. Instead of the roar of traffic, the residents listen to birdsong, children playing and the occasional jingle of a bicycle bell.

“If you want to have a car here, you have to pay about €20,000 for a space in one of our garages on the outskirts of the district,”  from: Independent

image by Kafeestein

Residents seem happy to travel around by foot, bike or the ultra efficient German tram system. It is been heralded as a city of the future. Not just good for the environment but good for quality of life and a lower rate of road fatalities.

A freebie at the National 50. Kind of makes it all worth while really….

At the National 50, each rider got a free box of ZipVit energy bars, vitamins and water bottle.

If you want a box for just £3.95 P&P. You can order it here

It includes

• Energy drink * 2
• Energy Gel with caffeine - it says on the bar caffeine intake equals 2.5 Red Bulls! Talk about a caffeine injection. Funnily enough on the box it says guaranteed no drugs (Caffeine is not on the band list of UCI drugs, though its use is said to enhance performance, at least in short run.) I didn’t like idea of drinking 2.5 red bulls, so I had about a third of the energy gel before race.
• Energy bars * 2 (1 with protein)
• Water Bottle 750ml Cervelo team colour.
• Cod Liver Oil tablets
• Multivitamins

Well, it’s probably a clever marketing strategy (e.g. people like me advertise ZipVit for free). But, the water bottle alone is probably worth £3.95. And, I always look out for cheap water bottles. I’ve had some for decades and they really need throwing out because they look a bit manky. But, being a Yorkshireman I’m always reluctant to fork out £4.00 just for  a plastic water bottle.

It’s debatable how necessary energy gels and bars are. You can buy cheaper substitutes from supermarkets. However, for long rides, I think it is nice to have a ‘proper’ energy bar, even it the nutrition content is not that much different from cheaper muesli bars. Energy drinks and electrolytes become very important on hot days. Because it is so rarely hot in the UK, I only use a couple of packets per year.

Related

• Cycling food
• Energy Bars at Wiggle
• High 5 Energy Gels at ProBike Kit - These are my favourite energy gels, quite easy to digest

My sister, Lynne, is not a cyclist, but she is a great photographer (as well as being a best selling author of The sociology of work - well best selling in the niche market of the sociology of work…) I’ve been told it’s a good read Anyway, my sister went to see a city centre race in Colchester with some of the top domestic riders fighting it out in a one hour criterium. THey were taken with a Nikon D70.

Peleton strung out in a line

The chase is on.

Pedestrian crossing

Fast cornering

You can catch the tour series on ITV4

The race was won by 1. Tom Southam RAPHA-CONDOR

Tour series.co.uk