“Every so often, I’ll ride a recreational group ride. I love the comraderie of cyclists, the talk, the last minute pumps of air, the clicking in, and the easy drifting out as a peloton. “I miss riding in a group,” I’ll think to myself…….”
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“Lost art of the group ride”

To his great credit, Peter does not just chronicle the often disturbing trends in cycling these days, he recalls some of the “lost” fundamentals that, if observed, would solve many of the problems he has noted.

The timing of this article coming to our attention could not have been better. After our ride Sunday we met up with long time CCB member Stan McLean. Stan was very active in our club as a rider, CCB Team racer and dedicated Freewheel Editor before moving away several years ago. He reported that the clubs in his new area ride so poorly that he would never bother joining one. Then last Tuesday night was the first weeknight CCB ride of the season. At the best of times these rides are little more aggressive and less disciplined than weekend outings. The early ones are often the most nervous. To make things worse last night I found myself with a group that just came together on the road, no pre ride agreement in the parking lot on what we were doing nor where we were going. Many other things were working against us from the start. There was a wide range in experience, 2 to 25+ seasons with the club, riders relatively new to groups mixed with very experienced racers. There was also a wide variation in mileage this season. Herb Nebbs was well into a season that started down South, Peter Brennan had been to a training camp week with his team in South Carolina but some of us were below par even for an average stay at home year. Finally, though many of us had ridden together at some point before, some had not and we had certainly never ridden in this particular combination before.

So what happened? A great ride happened. We certainly rode hard, there were many times when some of us were at the limit. But we stayed safe, everyone rode smart and we never broke up for an instant through almost 50km. It was absolutely amazing. Alan Hunt probably could have ripped the group apart at any point, but he never did. He rode at the right pace for the group rather than his limit every time he pulled. Everyone did their bit when pulling, and hung in when behind.

Afterwards I was thinking that this kind of experience has been my dream for the club for 25 years: To be able to get a random group of riders at a given level together in an improvised group and have a fantastic ride because everyone knows what to do and does it. It was particularly fitting that Herb was in the group last night because he was in my group for my first Beaconsfield ride about 25 years ago. That ride was a shambles. So was every single other “fast group” ride for the first half of the year. Then things started to change.

For the last 25 years what has defined this club are the effort it has made so that all members have a chance at having safe and enjoyable group rides. It is through the efforts of Herb, Peter, Alan and Luc who were with me last night and and dozens, if not hundreds of others by now. They have volunteered their time to come out to clinics and teach new members. Every year they regularly give up their regular groups to guide others as group leaders. And what are they teaching these new members? Exactly the fundamentals Peter mentions in his article. At the core of this club is recreational group riding. What guides us are Old School riding values. Not because we are attached to the past but because these rules are dictated by the laws of physics when bikes ride in a group. There is no better way to do things. And there is no other way to learn them than in a club setting. These skills are not taught in our schools and simply studying them on your own is useless. Through 25 years of organized programs and individual efforts many experienced riders have not just used the club as something that organizes their activities for their amusement, they have given back. Sure we are far from perfect and too many of our rides still end up much too close to what Peter writes about above. But last night makes me think we are getting somewhere.

The last word goes to The Boss and friends with some great advice for group riding:

(We miss you Big Man)

http://www.madegood.org/

They certainly look interesting, though I have not tried them out myself so this does not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of results.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has time to have a look and share their opinion with us using the “leave a reply” link above

These are the days you might fill
With laughter until you break
These days you might feel
A shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
Then you’ll know how it was meant to be

    Natalie Merchant, 10,000 Maniacs
    These Are Days, 1992

Finally, some decent riding weather!

Well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe.
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave.
Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.

   Natalie Merchant, 10,000 Maniacs
   Like The Weather 1987

Better days soon, we hope…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IojNLyHjbS8

When it is dry, the dust is chocking. When it is wet…

This quote from Theo de Rooij in an interview just after being forced out of the 1986 race says it all:

“It’s a bollocks, this race!” said de Rooij. “You’re working like an animal, you don’t have time to piss, you wet your pants. You’re riding in mud like this, you’re slipping … it’s a pile of shit.”

When then asked if he would start the race again, de Rooij replied:

“Sure, it’s the most beautiful race in the world!”

But there is another view in much of the rest of the world. Certainly the Grand Tours and their winners are respected. But it is also realized that only climbers can win these events. No matter how good a rider is against the clock, on the flats and rolling terrain, the large number of mountain stages will prove fatal to the hopes of most of the world’s best riders. These riders have a completely different focus to their seasons and careers: the Classics.

The Classics are tough one day races that have histories stretching back decades, in some case over a century. There are about a dozen of them plus a handful of newer “Semi-Classics” and all are run either in the spring before or in the fall after the Grand Tours. Of these, five have such status in the cycling world that they are considered it’s “Monuments”.  All are different and present their own set of challenges for riders. To win any of these Monuments requires a very special racer and winning even one can make a rider’s career.

The first Monument is Milan-San Remo also know as “La Primavera” as it is the spring opener to the real racing season. Riders have to contend with a distance of almost 300km, the longest of the Classics, which is particularly hard so early in the season. To win it takes a riders who can deal with over 6 hours in the saddle before reaching the sting in tail: the Cipressa and Poggio climbs in the last 40 or so km. And then be ready to give it his all to sprint for the win!

As I write this we are only hours away from the second Monument which might be the greatest one day bike race in the world, De Ronde Von Vlaanderen or The Tour Of Flanders. This one has it all. The distance is over 250km. There are cobbled sections, but unlike Paris-Roubaix, they are not flat. Some of the 17 bergs or hills the riders must cover are cobbled. Though not as long as the Cols in the Grand Tours, these hills are vicious. They can be anywhere form 1 to 4km long and some top out at over 20%. How hard are they? Where else do you see the best racers in the world doing this?

Add some rain, not at all unusual this time of year in Belgium and it can get really ugly.

With the narrow roads, ease up on fighting for position at the wrong time and being even one rider too far back can end your hopes of victory. No other race requires such strength and concentration. For Belgian riders, winning De Ronde is as significant as winning the Tour De France.

To be continued…

Pricing is $65 for the jersey, $65 for the shorts and $75 for the bibs. Don’t forget to bring cash or your cheque book.

http://www.bike-eu.com/Sales-Trends/Business-trends/2013/2/Another-Taiwan-Bike-Maker-to-Move-to-Cambodia-1168375W/

This story arc will continue…

There is no doubt that modern weather forecasting has made life much safer for riders, saving them from having to ride into hazardous conditions. But it was not always so. In the past huge storms could blow up unanticipated and wreak havoc as events were launched with no clue what awaited the riders a mere few hours later. Some of these races have provided the most dramatic days of racing on record. One of the greatest examples is the day that put Any Hampsten in the leader’s jersey of the Giro d’Italia. He would keep the jersey until the end and win the overall, a feat no North American rider had repeated until Ryder Hesdejal of Canada did it last year.

Though greatly overused in recent times, the word epic really describes the day on the Passo Di Gavia in 1988. Don’t believe it? I think this shot says it all:

It is worth checking out the full story. While Andy will always be remembered for this ride it is a shame that the man who won on the day, Eric Breukink, is rarely given his due for another  incredible ride.

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=1827

http://alamusette.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/classic-races-andy-hampsten-up-the-gavia/

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/giro08/?id=/riders/2008/interviews/giro_hampsten08

The available footage is of terrible quality but somehow that seems fitting for a such a horrific day on the bike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5wPEymv-oQ

That was quite a while ago. I remember after Andy’s win Shimano started running ads touting the new 8 speed group that he had ridden on the way to victory. It sounded crazy. Who needed 8 speeds in back? I had not even moved up to 7 yet. What would be next, some crazy attempt to put 9 gears in the back? Pure lunacy…

That’s where a website called cyclingfans comes in. It is a portal to live video feeds of TV coverage from all over the world. On the Live Race Coverage page you will see a menu of upcoming races. Click on the name of the race and it will take you to a page showing various live feed options, live tickers (ongoing race description with time splits) and video highlight packages once a race is finished.

http://www.cyclingfans.com/live_race_coverage

You will need to play around with it a bit to get the hang of how it works and where things are. Some feeds are country specific and will be blocked to the outside. You may have to try a few before you get one that works and some stream more smoothly than others. It is worth the effort as often you will end up on the Eurosport coverage featuring Sean Kelly as commentator. None better for the hard man classics!

The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is next Sunday the 24th. That will give  you some time to find the site, maybe even work out the buggy streaming app that came with your new TV so you can enjoy the race on your big screen. The Omloop is the opener of the Belgian racing season. Why is that such a big deal when the pros have already been racing for a couple of weeks? Though it is a nice warm up and pretty diversion, some of us think this is not really the face of early season racing:

No, this is more like it: