Cycling Games

Many of you will remember the great little film a NYC resident named Casey Neistat made about his encounter with the NYPD who berated and then fined him for not cycling in the bike lane (which was blocked!).

Here it is if you haven’t see it:



Casey also has another little film about running:



I really love this film, I can relate to it. I run sometimes to vary my training but mostly, I cycle, and when I do I play the same sort of games in my head, I’m sure we all do. So I’m going to steal Casey’s idea and transpose it for me, and my cycling.

I love to cycle, to race, to commute, to train, to ride single track in the quiet bush, just me and the dirt and the trees. But before I ride, the games start in my head.

Is the weather ok? What is the wind doing? It's Melbourne, it's always windy. Have I got enough time? Is it worth it? Should I spend more time at home?

Housework. Friends. Fiancée. TV. Those jobs around the house that aren't going to finish themselves. Those unwashed dishes, that un-vacuumed floor.

What do I have to do today? Can I rock up in Lycra? Should I take a change of clothes? Will I be able to grab a shower? Will I be stinky? Can I fit everything I need in my back pockets?

How do I feel? Is my knee ok? Has yesterday's headache gone? That pain in my thigh - what is that? Do I feel strong? Do I feel fast?

Which bike? Is the bike ok? Is it clean, oiled, tight, stiff? Is it 100%?

And then I ride, and the real games begin...

How far will I go? Where will I go? Can I go further, faster, higher than yesterday, than last week, than ever before?

Catch that guy, pass those girls, hold that wheel, give that guy a spell. Roll a turn. Should I stick in this Peloton? That guy's fat - go around him. What's that smell? Man that's bad BO - go around him - quickly!

How fast can I get to work today? Can I beat yesterday's time? Have I got enough water? Have I got enough food? Gels, bars, fruit, nuts, jelly babies. Urrggh! I'm getting a burger after this!

How many kilometre's have I done? How many pedal revolutions have I done? What's my altitude? What's my power output? What's my heart rate? Is it too high? Is it too low?

Damn this rain. Why is the wind blowing? Why is it always a headwind? I hate you wind! I will not let you get to me. It's cold. It's hot. It's early. It's late.

How fast am I going? Can I go faster? Can I hold 35kph? The PRO's do an average of 40kph. How do they do that? Will I ever do that?

What's that bike? What's that jersey? My bike is better than that. That bike is awesome, I want it. My bike sux. No it doesn't.

Is my bike running ok? What's that noise? Why is the chain slipping? Which gear? Watch the road. Watch that pothole!

This hill never ends. This mountain is steep. My legs are screaming. Don't stop now. Just a bit further and I'm at the summit. Don't stop. Shut up legs. SHUT UP LEGS.

What's that car doing? Has she seen me? Are they turning? Where's the indicator? Red light. Green light. Amber - ride faster, I can make it!

It's time to race. Can I get a place today? Can I win? The pace is slow, should I try a breakaway? The pace is high, can I hold this? Should I sit at the back? What if i miss a break? Should I take a turn at the front? What if I crash and burn?

These are the games I play. The thoughts that run around in my head. In the end it all doesn't really matter - as long as I ride.

Random Acts of Snotting

Why do I have to be concerned about being sprayed in the face with bodily fluids when I go riding? More than a few times I've ended up with a face full of snot from the rider in front of me.

So what can I do, not much really I guess. The last guy that sprayed me with his discarded nasal fluid copped a verbal spray and then ate my dust.

But I shouldn't have been showered in snot in the first place!

When you want to blow your nose pull out a tissue from your back pocket - best solution. BUT, I know we all want to be PRO and imitate that thumb to nostril style professional cyclists do so well. I found it actually has a name ‘snot rocket’, go on follow the link and read all about it, if you can stomach it that is.

I also found this blog post that goes into much deeper detail about the causes, origins and idiosyncrasies of the snot rocket. I can’t write that much about it. My weak stomach is turning enough as it is. And here’s a pic of the action, sneakily appropriated from the ‘Mira Mesa Cycling Club Blog’ thanks be to them whoever they are!

So this is my plea – I know we cyclists don’t tend to carry around handkerchiefs, therefore, if you need to blow your nose, first take a look around and most importantly, behind you, and make sure it’s safe to do so. If it’s not safe drop to the back of the pack and ‘snot rocket’ to you hearts content. These suggestions go for spitting too!

We already are embarrassing enough with our loud lycra and our sweat – we don’t need to make things worse by spraying unwanted bodily fluids over each other!

That’s it - my pointers for on-road etiquette that I post here in the hope that we put an end to random acts of snotting.

Have charity events hijacked our sport?

The exponential growth of cycling in Australia has been undeniable. Cycling shops are springing up everywhere, the trails are busier, the club and Cycling Australia races have high levels of participation, and commuting by bike is becoming a recognised form of transport that a large proportion of Australians use daily to get to and from work. In short, more people are cycling more often. Along with this I have noticed the introduction of many new cycling charity rides.

I'm sure you have noticed it too. We've all seen the flyers and the ads online and in cycling magazines. You know the standard tag line: 'Get on your bike, get fit, get active, and raise money for (insert random charity name here)'. I've ridden a few of them in my time and I'm sure you have too.

Now, I'm not against charities and I'm not against public philanthropy for a good cause. In fact I think there needs to be more of it in Australia, we are lagging behind other countries (like the U.S.) in the public philanthropy stakes. There are certain charities close to my heart, and if I see a charity ride in their aid I'll happily fork out the cash.

I just find it hard to ignore the economic aspects of these events.

Essentially these events are money making activities, often not just for the charity. There are many organisations involved (commercial and non-profits) that have financial vested interests in these events; event organisation companies, public bodies and corporate sponsors - they all have a stake in the success or failure of any charity ride, and sometimes we are talking big money.

Some of the rides are even advertised on TV. TV advertising is very expensive, I should know, I work in Marcomms. Organisations do not outlay that sort of money for advertising unless the potential profits are sizable.

So - profits need to big (to ensure the charity is well looked after), plus event coordination costs need to be covered, then there's road-closure and event marshalling costs and advertising costs, and I'm sure there's other costs I am unaware of. All of this ads up and someone has to cover it, corporate sponsorship only goes so far.

Registration fees are where the bulk of the funds come from. Registration fees that cycling enthusiasts pay - to do a ride that, on any other day of the year, they could do for free. And these registration fees aren't cheap. For example, last weekend, you had the choice of four different charity rides. If you were to register for the longest ride option for all four of these events you would be up for $300 in fees. And most of the time there's not a lot in it for the cyclists as these events are not races sanctioned by CA, therefore there are no prizes for placings.

I'm concerned that we as cyclists are being taken advantage of with these sometimes expensive events. Do charities and event organisation companies see cyclists as cash cows? Are the $150 - $200 registration fees really justified? Perhaps they are just trying to cash in on the rapidly burgeoning popularity of our sport?

Don't think I am against raising money for good causes - it's not about that. Personally I think you have to make your own judgement call with these events. Obviously you can't compete in all of them, so you just do the ones that either interest you because of the route, or interest you because you support the charity involved. I think the Amy Gillett Foundation do a fantastic job and I am therefore happy to participate in at least one of their charity rides per year.

This is a phenomenon that is unique to our sport, apart from perhaps running, there are no other sports that feature so heavily in fundraising ventures - this fact in itself inspires debate. What are your thoughts? Comment below.

Friday Time Waster

Great video I caught recently from one of the many bike email lists I subscribe to, and I just had to re-post.

Watch it, get inspired, and use it to push you along as you head out this weekend!

Ride hard, or ride home. 

PUSH PULL from Landis Fields on Vimeo.

Guest Post: Riding in the SRAM Support Car

Last Saturday, Rob - a friend, was given the unique opportunity of riding in the SRAM car as the Jayco Herald Sun Tour made its way around the Mornington Peninsula. Thanks Rob for giving us this insight into the fast-paced world of support vehicles.

Words: Robert Merkel 

I wish I could tell you about my ringside viewing of the battle of Arthur's Seat. Haas and Bobridge trading blows, while up ahead Silin took his first pro stage win.

But that would be a fib. One brief glimpse out the rear window near the bottom of the climb - that's all I got. I didn't see the riders again until I jumped out of the car at the finish line. Nor did our friendly mechanics have any mechanical incidents to deal with; so I can't tell you just how fast they can change a wheel.

Nonetheless, it was a fascinating few minutes in the neutral support vehicle.

The first thing you notice when you jump in the car - after it stopped for all of a millisecond to pick us up - is that it's a busy, busy workplace. Race radio is constantly nattering away. "All back together". "112, 63, and 47 off the front". "Jerseys in the bunch". "Moto 2, follow the break". The driver listens carefully for any instructions to reposition himself, while the mechanic in the back seat is constantly noting down who's in the breakaway in the course "mocka" - a very detailed description of the route provided by the organizers. While we were able to have a brief chat at times, working in a support vehicle is certainly no holiday. It was clear that our hosts were pretty tired after four days of doing this.

I was interested to see how the neutral support car managed the profusion of possibly incompatible wheel standards. There's two different cassette standards (Campy and Shimano/SRAM), and two different types of braking surfaces (carbon and aluminium) that the neutral support car might have to deal with. If you think that's bad, a couple of years ago there would have also been Campy 10 speed to deal with, making six possible combinations!

To simplify this, the support car used older-style Zipp (owned by SRAM) clincher wheels with aluminium braking tracks, and borrowed a wheelset from the one team in the race using Campagnolo. Even so, the car was completely full of spare wheels; I had a rear wheel sitting on my lap. Disc brakes, if they ever bring them in for road bikes, are going to make things even more complicated!

While you see it on television and you get a bit of a sense if you descend yourself, it's still a shock just how fast the convoy has to drive to keep with (or ahead) of the pros on descents. The cars and drivers get a real workout at times, and it's a testament to the professionalism and experience of the drivers that there are so few accidents.

I've helped out backstage at a few amateur theatre events, and the parallels are clear. While it's the stars that make the show, without the dedication and skill of a lot of people doing their jobs properly, the stars won't get their chance. I'm very grateful to see how it's all done, even if, on the surface, not a lot happened.

I should also add that my prize included a very high-quality collection of loot from SRAM, including an Apex conversion kit. This rear derailleur lets you fit a mountain bike 11-32 cassette to a SRAM-equipped road bike, giving the kind of gearing that makes climbs like Mount Baw Baw or the Dargo hill doable without the expense and inconvenience of fitting a triple crank. I just wish Shimano made a similar derailleur for their road range.

Thanks to CyclingTips and SRAM for organizing this excellent prize.

Jayco Herald Sun Tour Wrap

The UCI sanctioned Jayco Herald Sun Tour concluded on Lygon Street on Sunday with young Aussie amateur, Nathan Haas taking out the overall top spot. It was a hard fought race, completed in some pretty tough conditions, I don't think any of the five days was wind or rain free. As tends to happen in short stage races, the attacks were frequent and hard-hitting.

Stage one was won by Rhys Pollock who, along with a select group of other riders, were able to get away from the pack by a significant margin, making the battle for yellow restricted to a small group of about six riders.

Stage two was taken out by virtual unknown Janse Van Rensburg Reinardt, and the beautiful stage three (which meandered its way along the Great Ocean Road, taking a similar route to the 2XU Great Ocean Classic), was won by the big German, who has thighs the size of watermelons, Marcel Kittel.

Saturday was the day we were all looking forward to - the Queens Stage, a 131.6 km route around the Mornington Peninsula, which incorporated three ascents of the short but tough Arthurs Seat. I rode down to the race and took up a position in 'Bay 13', the best place on hill for channelling Tour de France, Mont Ventoux fandom. Well done Rapha and CyclingTips for creating such a great vibe on the climb. We even had our own devil, a fireman and a telletubby to put a smile on the riders faces, which was probably lost pretty quickly with the sight of two men in mankini's running along side them! The stage was taken out by Egor Silin from Russian Pro team Katusha - but more importantly, Nathan Haas rode himself inside out to take out second and put himself into the yellow jersey, just ahead of Jack Bobridge. He said afterward that he "felt a whole new level of pain" on Arthurs Seat to put himself in the box seat.    

It was a windy, eclectic day on Sunday for the final leg - a criterium around the streets of Carlton. Despite the fact that Victoria's and perhaps Australia's biggest cycling event was held on the same day, the Around The Bay in a Day, there were massive crowds out on Lygon street to witness Marcel Kittel adding to his already overflowing trophy cabinet for 2011 by taking the line honours, and Haas taking the overall (as well as the green points classification jersey and the white young riders jersey!).

This win has skyrocketed Haas into the vision of the big Pro teams and I'm sure we'll learn of a new contract for the young Aussie soon enough. The final presentation was great - Haas spoke well and thanked the Genesys team for their hard work, and it was a who's who of Australian cycling, with all the SBS Cycling Central team there (Matty Keenan, Sophie Smith and Anthony Tan) and Gerry Ryan, Australian cycling stalwart and owner of the new GreenEdge international cycling team, making an appearance on the stage. The only downer was Jack Bobridge, who denied Haas's offer of a swig of champagne on the podium, and just couldn't hide the disappointment of coming second!

Check out some photos of the race below - and post a comment to voice your thoughts on the weeks racing.

Tanny! Anthony Tan from SBS Cycling Central

Wesley Sulzberger

Legends of Aussie cycling - Matty Lloyd and Adam Hansen

Jack Bobridge

Nathan Haas

The peloton comes around Bay 13 corner

The finish line on the top of Arthurs Seat

Egor Silin as he cruises to a stage four victory

Haas and Bobridge as they fight for second place on the fourth stage

An exhausted Rhys Pollock knows he's lost yellow as he finishes on Arthurs Seat

Egor Silin being awarded the stage victory

Finishing time of Silin was actually 3:20; pretty fast all things considered

Haas celebrates taking yellow

Fast cornering on Rathdowne Street

Heading up Rathdowne Street

Janse Van Rensburg Reinardt flies onto Lygon Street

Alexander Serov from Russia - I think!

The finish line on Lygon Street

Matty Keenan interviews Gerry Ryan

Marcel Kittel celebrates his stage win

Janse Van Rensburg Reinardt takes out the Most Aggressive Rider jersey

Luke Davison takes the King of the Mountain jersey

Genesys Wealth Advisors Team takes out the teams clasification

Haas celebrates his victory

(Left to Right) Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (3rd), Nathan Haas (1st), Jack Bobridge (2nd)

Cycling Sux

When you ride a bike more than 200 kms a week, when you race, when you commute daily, or when you are clocking up kms training, cycling becomes a whole lot more than a leisurely activity that you do on the weekend to de-stress or a great way to make the most of a beautiful summers day. Cycling can take over, it can consume, it becomes part of your life, it can be expensive and it can give you the shits!

Take this morning for example. I jumped on the bike at 7:45 am to arrive at work at about 8:45 am, to give me just enough time to shower and eat some breakfast before starting work at my desk. This is how a normal morning plays out; but not today. I got my first puncture at 8:20 am, repaired the wheel with my one spare tube, got a second puncture at 8:45 am, walked to the nearest bike shop to buy a puncture repair kit to repair the first tube, changed the tube, got my third puncture at 9:30 am, repaired the second tube, changed the tyre again, got my fourth puncture at 10:00 am, decided to cut my losses and walk to a train station, arrived at work at 10:50 - nearly 2 hours late.

Now this is extreme, I know; it doesn't happen regularly, maybe once a year you'll have a morning like this, but when it does happen - it really get to you! So much that you'll probably want to go and write a blog post about how annoyed you are ;) Days like these make you wanna pick up your bike and throw it on the tram tracks to let the 5 tonne beast do its worst! In this case there's obviously an issue with the wheel or the tyre that I was unable to locate and I'll now have to go about the process of finding and fixing the problem over the next few days - which will no doubt cost money.

Which leads me to the next issue - the constant expenses. Just when you think you have all you need, something on your bike fails or you lose something and you need to replace it, or, you get suckered into the constant cycle of upgrades and gear improvements. And then when you do buy, you have the dilemma of whether to buy online or support your local bike shop (LBS). It's a tough one, if you buy online you can make massive savings, but you risk high postage costs and purchasing ill-fitting or faulty products. If you buy from your LBS you risk being ripped off but you get the interpersonal service that web shopping lacks.

At a race last week I lost a pair of cycling sunglasses, so I went and purchased a new pair of North Wave cycling sunnies from a bike shop in St Kilda for $90, only to find them on the web for $52 (with cheap shipping) only a few hours later. It doesn't feel good to be ripped off to the tune of almost $40, but what feels worse is the constant spending. Only a few weeks ago I had my stem and my bottom bracket replaced and fitted for nearly $400, in a few weeks time I'm due for a couple of new tyres which will be another $100, and I just bought my 2012 racing license ($214). That's $800 in October alone. And even when all your gear and your bike is sorted, you still have the racing and charity ride costs (if you are into that sort of thing). These events are not cheap, I think registration for this years 'Around the Bay' 210 km option is about $170!

And all that's not the worst of it! What is you ask? It's riding to work through driving rain on a 5 degree morning, getting absolutely soaked and then putting on your wet gear later that evening for the ride home, then having to find a way to dry your soaked shoes for the next days commute. It's riding directly into 80 km p/h winds, barely moving at 10 kms p/h. It's riding in plus 40 degree heat when your water bottles are empty. Cycling in bad weather - that takes the cake.

With 'Ride To Work Day' approaching I probably shouldn't be writing a post like this. I should be talking about all the great things cycling does for us, about how cycling makes you fit and enriches your life. But the above idiosyncrasies are realities, I'm telling it like it is and I'm just scratching the surface here. There's also the countless hours of preparation before and after rides; there's the inevitable crashes and the long recovery downtime; there's the dangers of the road and the everlasting war with inconsiderate drivers and oblivious pedestrians; there's the washing and the cleaning and the tinkering and the fixing; and there's the time spent away from loved ones while you indulge in your passion.

Cycling can suck, it can give me the shits, but I put up with all of the above, I cycle almost every day and I hope to continue doing it for a long time yet. Which means one of two things - I either love it, or I'm completely insane! You decide!

The Manx Missile – New World Champion

It was brilliant to see Mark Canvendish, ‘The Manx Missile’, take out the world championships road race gold medal last Sunday. I have to admit – I am a big fan. I love the way he goes about his cycling. He wears his heart on his sleeve, is a straight talker and never forgets the people who have helped to get him where he is. He has gone through a transformation in recent years, turning himself from a yappy kid to one of the most respected riders in the PRO ranks. He has learnt that sprinters don’t win races without help, and he’s learnt when to be arrogant, and more importantly, when to be humble. And it’s this humble, gifted racer, who speaks with passion that we all like so much.

Cavendish started out his cycling life on the bmx and then moved to mountain biking at 12. Inspired by David Millar, he started winning races and took steps to become a professional cyclist. He began life as a professional on the track, winning gold at the 2005 world championships in the Madison. In 2006 he began his road cycling career, and quickly started earning his reputation as the fastest sprinter in the world. To date, he has won 20 stages at the Tour de France and in the 2011 edition, took home the coveted green jersey which had eluded him in previous years.

As far as the World Championships decider played out, it was a fast and furious race. At 260 km’s, it was a long course and the field went out hard in the beginning, averaging 50km/h for the first hour of racing. Many break aways were reigned in and despite many of the predictions by cycling commentators, it came down to a bunch sprint that initially looked to be controlled by an Aussie train. The push by Cav at the end was not as explosive as normal, but steady. He pushed to the front, as fast as a missile, and made it over the line first, despite a massive effort by Matty Goss, who came VERY close to coming over the top of Cav at the end. I was a happy man – two of my favourite riders placed 1 and 2.

I respect the way Cav races, it takes a lot to come through at the end smash the opposition. Trust me I know, it’s guys like him who beat me in the weekend road races. You can be as strong as you want for 50 or 100 or 200 km’s, but if you don’t have the legs at the end then forget about it. He also brings a flair to the UCI Pro Tour that could be compared to the Armstrong effect. Like Lance, Cav can talk – and it’s stuff you actually want to hear, not the typical dross that AFL or NRL players dish out. And… he has a sensational girlfriend, Page 3 girl, Peta Todd. Nice one Cav!

Perth's city trails

I was in Perth all of last week for business and, as any bike nerd does when away from home, I took great interest in the visible bike culture I could see on Perth's streets and parks. Perth lends itself well to excellent cycling infrastructure - a cashed up city council with mining tax revenue to burn, a relatively flat metropolitan area, a plethora of parks, and well planned inner city streets that are being re-developed to accommodate cyclists.

From what I could tell as I roamed the city, cycling is very popular and the trails are well used. The key (I think) to Perth's cycling infrastructure in the beautiful Swan river, which lends it's banks to a brilliant trail all the way from the city to Fremantle. I didn't get to ride it but hope to some day. For the roadies craving hills there's the climb from the city to Kings Park and I'm told there are some decent climbs not too far out of the city.

Perhaps Perth's biggest cycling advantage is its favourable weather - when I was there it was 27 degrees and blue skies... but alas, I'm now back in Melbourne and I must now jump on the bike and ride home from work, and as a welcome home it looks like it's just about to start raining! Ahhh, Melbourne weather...you gotta love it!

Perth from King's Park

Heading into the city

Approaching the bell tower at Barrack st Jetty

Bike trail along the Mitchell Freeway

Vuelta Wrap

I know I'm a bit late to do a Vueta wrap, but I've gotta write something. It's one of the biggest cycling races in the world... one of the 'Big Three'. But to be honest with you, even if I wanted to do a complete wrap of Spain's premier road stage race - the Vuelta a Espana, I couldn't.

The truth is that it passed me by completely. And it seems I'm not the only one. Everyone I have spoken to, friends and colleagues alike, have said the same thing. They just weren't interested. And many of my most frequented cycling websites have reported the same thing.

It's not like I didn't care at all, I still had to see who picked up the stage wins and I was keen to see if Bradley Wiggins could come back from a smashed collar bone in the Tour de France and take the win, but as for staying up late and watching the SBS coverage - forget it. Thing is... I don't know why.

Did we all have hangovers from one of most engaging TDF's in recent years? Did the lack of the big names have some impact? I mean, who the hell is Cobo anyway? Did the timing of USA Pro Cycling Challenge distract us? Or was it the course? Were the stages uninventive and boring? I know a few people have suggested that the lack of a decisive penultimate stage killed the excitement. And maybe, for us Aussies, it was the late start time of the coverage (11:30pm). That's way past my bedttime on a school night!

Whatever the reason, our lack of interest is a problem for Unipublic, the organising body. At a boom time for international cycling, there shouldn't be such a widespread lack of interest in one of our sports biggest races. The need to make adjustments and tweaks to ensure we are glued to our TV sets. If they cant attract the big names because they are all spent after the TDF - then delay the race a few weeks and offer more incentives for riders and teams. No one want to see the downfall of one of the pillars of cycling.

Anyhow - congratulations to Cobo. If we didn't know who he was before - we certainly do now. And we will all stand up and take notice of him from now on I'm sure! And, like me, he rides a Fuji!