Contador

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of days or hold no interest in cycling whatsoever, you’ll already know that Alberto Contador has been cleared of intentional doping by the Spanish cycling federation.

I honestly don’t know how I feel about it and I think that I’m not alone in my feelings.

For the past few years, Contador has been Mr Cycling. His athletic prowess, unique riding style and dominating attacks have obliterated the opposition and monopolised the grand tours. It’s been brilliant to watch.

The 2009 Tour de France played out like a feature film where the smaller, playground wimp was bullied by the brash American, determined to take his lunch money, only for the shy wallflower to rise up and beat the bully into submission. I warmed to him, hell, I even cheered for him.

We applauded him, placed him up high on that pedestal and then worshipped him alongside the other historic greats.
The foundations of the king’s statue began to crack in 2010, following the chain “incident” with Andy Schleck. Fans stood by him, “Alberto doesn’t cheat, it must be a mistake. He didn’t know Schleck had dropped his chain.”
I want to believe the innocence, even though common sense mocks my naivety. It clouded the end of the race and the win became a dark stain on the yellow jersey.

Rumours then begin to emerge about a failed drug test but the reports aren’t clear as to whether it’s accidental or not. I want them to be false but then I don’t want dopers in the sport. It’s like denying your wife’s having an affair or that your brother’s a drug addict. The signs are there and you know common sense says the instincts are right but you just don’t want to believe the rumours that shatter the illusion.

As it stands, he’ll race and whether the ban is upheld in future months after the appeal is an issue we’ll see as, if or when it happens. One thing is for certain, I’ll be upset regardless of the decision and it is another low blow to the sport of cycling.

Why i'll never be a professional cyclist.........

I can't get enough of Twitter. Not because I enjoy tweeting - my life is so boring that my tweets bring little entertainment to the world.
I enjoy it because i'm nosey. I want to know what everyone else is doing. It's the same with Facebook. I want to know that the girl I went to school with 20 years ago, who used to be hot when I was 10 but now resembles Simon Cowell in a wig is having a tuna sandwich for lunch. These things interest me, not because i'm sad enough to really care about the filling of a sandwich but because it reassures me that my life is good and that i'm doing ok.
OK magazine doesn't interest me but I can sit and read the wattage that Alex Dowsett is putting out on a training ride and actually sit and digest the information as if it's this year's bestseller. Why? Because it fuels my imagination. I want to make myself believe that had I made different choices in life, these people I read about could have been me. I'd like to think that if David Brailsford saw me riding my 2nd hand BMX around the village green, i'd be up there in the mountains giving Andy Schleck "the look" before launching a devastating attack.
The realisation? I have never had the potential to become a professional cyclist because I just don't know how to suffer. To look at what the pros go through is truly humbling. 6 hours in the rain, in January, just to ensure that the base fitness is there for a race in July.
For me, if I look out the window and the clouds look a bit grey, I declare a rest day. Should I be sad about that? I don't think so, it's not as if i'm telling the world that i'm eating a tuna sandwich......

Supplements. Believe the hype?

When I first started cycling, I was desperate to spend money on the sport. So much so, that if you took a shit and stamped a picture of a bicycle on it, I'd probably try to buy it from you.

I think the majority of humans are insatiable - we always want more and are never happy with what we have got. The grass is always greener on the other side (or the tarmac is always smoother if you're more a roadie than a mountain biker).

I am fairly obsessed with cycling and so if I can't be outside riding my bike, I want to be reading about bikes or planning routes to cycle or arranging rides or buying things to do with my bike or cycling or that vaguely resemble cycling. The buying part brings me onto the purpose of today's topic - supplements.

The reason I've been thinking about this is because my sister is training to run a marathon and is currently completing training runs of around 15 miles. She has read a few articles about fueling and decided to ask me what I use whilst I'm cycling.

It's an interesting topic. When I first started to cycle, I used to take a bottle of water and even though the distances were short and one could argue that I was cycling on"stored" energy, I didn't die from hunger or exhaustion.
A couple of months into my new found hobby, I joined ,my local cycling club (Addiscombe CC http://www.addiscombe.org/ ) and threw myself into a 50 mile club run, cheating death with a cup of tea and a Kit Kat.

I read some magazines and found out that I shouldn't be content with merely cheating death, I needed to stick two fingers up and poke death in his/her eyes (no sexism here - I don't work for Sky Sports). My mind was opened to the world of nutritional supplements. In the blink of an eye, I had found a whole new avenue to spend money on. I could almost hear the accountants of Wiggle rubbing their hands with glee.

So, I dived in and bought gels, powders, bars galore and used them whenever I could on a ride and do you know what? I didn't die but I didn't win the Tour de France either.

I'm not saying that supplements are wrong or don't work but I think it's all too easy to get caught up in the hype that goes with them. I've learned that I don't need to take an energy drink on every ride, sometimes a banana is better than a sports packaged cereal bar.

Now, I follow a simple strategy:
30 miles or less - water.
30 - 60 miles - water, a banana or flapjack or an energy drink.
60 plus miles, whatever the media want to throw at me.......

My advice to you, do whatever makes you happy and you think works but respect your body and always have something left in reserve.

Just mooching around.....

Things have been pretty hectic over the last few weeks, with the Christmas break and everything. Isn't it funny how we call it a break but it seems to be more hectic than the rest of the year??!!

I took the opportunity yesterday to just get out for a ride on my bike and not really bother worrying about how fast I was going or what my heart rate was doing and it made a refreshing change.

Living in South London, I'm always in a rush to head out of town and into the country as soon as possible which generally means I head south or east to get out into the lanes. This has got a bit boring of late as it tends to mean I do the same monotonous 5-10 miles to start and finish every ride. I thought that it would be nice to head north for a change and head into London.

I used to work in a job where I rode a motorbike around London and since leaving that role, I do miss "the big smoke" and sights that go with it.

I decided to just see where I ended up, which ultimately led me to Greenwich on a damp, cloudy morning. I stood for a while looking out over the Thames and for the first time in a while, I actually felt relaxed.....

Tour Down Under - Stage 1 Review

With determination and self control, I managed to avoid the lure of the internet and went all day without seeing the result from Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under.
After seeing the highlights, one thing is pretty clear - these early season opening tours are pretty dull. Wow, a sprint point, wow one king of the mountains climb.......
I am so glad that the highlights are only 30 minutes! Anyway, so Matt "From Bros" Goss benefited from Prince Harry leading him out and took the win ahead of Greipel.
I'm still not sure why Cavendish wasn't up there trying for the win but I have a number of theories:

Theory 1
He isn't in fact racing in the Tour Down Under and has merely been named to boost ratings.

Theory 2
Mark Cavendish is in fact Andre Greipel and dresses in a gorilla suit to take obscure race wins in a hope to claim two salaries.

Theory 3
Andre Greipel ate Mark Cavendish.

Theory 4
Mark Cavendish is using the Tour Down Under to raise fitness and get miles in the legs and will not compete any sprints.

Theory 5
Mark Cavendish is so busy getting it on with Page 3 girls that he forgot to race.

Theory 6
Cavs is taking one for the team and letting someone else hog the limelight.

Theory 7 (ties in with 6)
Mind games, pure and simple. "Hey Greipel, you're not even fast enough to beat our number 2"

Theory 8
Lance Armstrong paid Cavendish to lay low so he can capture the headlines in his farewell international tour.

Theory 9
Out of season dental surgery has again dealt Mark a cruel blow and a surgical mistake has meant that he's ended up with a massive set of 36EE boobs. He's now trying desperately to cover them up by cycling anonymously in the pack until corrective surgery or a Page 3 contract comes into play.

Tour Down Under

As I write this, the first stage of the Tour Down Under has already finished and the new racing season is underway. I'm now going to spend the rest of the day frantically avoiding any media outlets that will spill the beans and ruin the result for me. As per usual, i'll probably manage until mid afternoon and then will click onto www.bikeradar.com without thinking and ruin things for myself.
It's kind of hard though when you're addicted to cycling like I am.
And so, to pro cycling and the tour itself......
I saw the Cancer Classic crit race highlights on Sunday (surprise result beautifully ruined by a Facebook update from Team Sky by the way) and don't honestly know what happened to Cavendish and Greipel at the end. Anyone got any idea why they weren't there at the finish? Nice to see Matt Goss get the win though. He's come a long way since his 80's music success in Bros.
The main excitement though has to be about the Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel showdown. Both are amazing talents in their own right but my money has to go on Cavendish. He's such a talent and it's refreshing to have someone who's so brutally honest all the time. Admittedly, he doesn't always say the right thing all the time but I like the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve.
The other big news of the TDU is the international retirement of Lance Armstrong. Love him or hate him, I can't help but feel a little sad about his departure. He's raised the profile of the sport as a whole and I hope he can get into a break this week and give the fans a nice send off.

A New Year.....

It’s the start of the year and time to reflect on the year gone past and look to the future.
So, how was 2010 for me? All in all, I’d say it was pretty good. I shelled a fair bit of weight and managed to get some good fitness. The earlier part of the year leading up to the London to Paris ride, saw me at my lightest and at my fittest.
I competed in my first race and although it was a poor placing, I really enjoyed it and it’s something I’ll be looking at doing again at some point.
I completed the London to Paris ride pretty comfortably and met some great (and some not so great) people along the way.
Form and fitness has dipped a bit since June but I’ve kept on the bike and have joined Audax UK with the hope to complete some real long distance rides in 2011. I haven’t renewed my racing licence because I just don’t think I have enough time to dedicate to racing this year, I’d sooner enjoy cycling in itself rather than pitch myself against other people, although I will try a 10 mile time trial this year……
I want to see some new places around the UK so will be mainly doing Audax and Sportive rides with, hopefully a trip to the Alps in the summer to ride some of the Cols, probably around the Lake Annecy area.
I’m definitely starting in a better position than I was 12 months ago. On the few rides I’ve already done this year, I don’t feel too far behind where I was last summer.
A big aim is to keep this blog updated a bit more regularly. I’ll try to make it less mundane than it’s got of late and think up some entertaining features.
I managed to stay awake and sign up to the 2011 Dragon Ride so that gives me something to aim for in 2011 while I think of some alternative challenges. I’d like to do at least one sportive or Audax a month so watch this space……