Half way through the season now and not a too many podium finishes to report! I’ve had some fun though and done a few interesting events:-
La Cantonale – 100km road race just south of Boulogne, we knew we were in trouble when we turned up in our beat up old estate and parked up next to all the smart looking team cars. And so it was to prove, out the back after less than 20 miles I settled into a nice little group of 10 or so and we had quite  a pleasant afternoon riding along closed roads in picturesque countryside before sprinting for 140th place!

The Squadra at La Cantonale!

Rapha Gentlemans TT – A mad event this one, London-Brighton-London in a team of 5, we chose our own route and took just over 7hours placing us 6th on time. This one hurt a lot, by the time we were riding back through the London suburbs I’d had enough and the sense of humour was failing!!

The Blue Train heading out of London

Nocturne – After the previous weekends epic Brighton ride this was at the other extreme, 40 mins at max with some pretty hairy cornering, the best bit was watching the pros do it twice as fast whilst downing some much needed alcoholic refreshment.

Here’s another interesting build I caught on the web, this time a fixed street machine built by Tiziano Zullo. It looks to be based on an Inqubo frameset.

“The idea from the outset was to create a totally unique street cruiser with a novel theme focusing on simplicity and attention to detail. A 3 month project with a custom cr/mo frame and carbon forks from Zullo Italy. The tubing is very unique and varies in shape from end-to-end. All parts are new and were selected to compliment the overall theme. The bike is very clean, great to ride and weighs in at 7kg.”

I just noticed this on the IF site and thought it was worth sharing. For anyone after the ultimate lightweight fixie!

“This bike is a super sturdy and ultra lightweight singlespeed. This is one of our Corvid frame sets with horizontal dropouts and a Gates Carbon Belt Drive. This belt drive requires no lube ever, will get about 10,000 miles of use, is super silent and ridiculously light weight. White, Baby Blue, Evening Blue and clearcoated carbon fiber is the theme.”

For over a year I had wanted to visit Tiziano Zullo in his workshop in Castelnuovo del Garda (on the southern shores of Lake Garda). We had been in email communication for some time but this was our first chance to meet up. Zullo was a name I had been aware of for some time as a quality Italian steel builder still building his own frames and not contracting out which, as we have learnt, is very common.

Tiziano Zullo and his wife Elena (who speaks perfect English, fortunately for us) run a small shop through which they sell their frames to  local cyclists. The workshop is to the rear of the shop and it is here where Tiziano and his colleague spends most of his time. In it’s heyday Zullo was producing up to 4000 frames a year and for a few years in the 90’s provided the Dutch TVM team with bikes which were ridden in all the Grand Tours and major Classics of the day. Nowadays production runs at a couple of hundred hand-crafted steel framesets a year. Tiziano builds using both Deddaccia and Columbus tubing (depending on the model). The range includes both contemporary tig-welded steel models such as the Inqubo (Dedacia 16.5) and the Vergine (Columbus XCR) alongside retro-styled lugged models and even a Tour ‘91 replica model, a homage to the Zullo supplied TVM team of the era.
It was easy to agree with Tiziano and Elena to represent their brand in the UK, frames are being built for us right now and will soon be in the shop. The reaction of the journalists with us to the news suggested we had made the right decision.

The early spring trip to visit Dario Pegoretti has become a Mosquito tradition over the last few years, this trip marking our 5th visit to Dario’s Caldonazzo workshop. However this year was a bit different as we also visited the Columbus factory and Tiziano Zullo in his workshop on the edge of Lake Garda.

The Columbus facility sits in an industrial landscape in the Milanese suburbs and is home to not only Columbus tube engineering but also warehousing and R&D for Cinelli. To learn more about Columbus and its’owner Anton Columbo take a look at the the latest issue (17) of Rouleur where you will find a great article and interview by Editor Guy Andrews.
We were shown round the factory by Lodovico (Special Projects Manager!) – lots of shiny tubing, impressive machinery – the usual bike factory stuff. It was interesting to hear how closely Columbus work with Dario Pegoretti on developing tubing, the man is held in great respect.

After the factroy stuf, time for a bike ride. We had brought along a number of journalists and Lodovico kindly supplied us all with carbon Cinelli’s for a quick spin around the local lanes. Very pleasant it was too, early spring sunshine and gentle banter (for the first half hour, after that things got a bit more serious…..).

 

It come’s round every year, the Mosquito London Cyclocross Team Champs. Having spent a winter successfully avoiding the agony that is cross racing I get called upon once more to make up the numbers in the Mosquito team. This winter my lack of racing has been impressive by even my standards, the team champs would be only my second event of the season. Being now the Mosquito/Londoncyclesport squad we boast two teams for the race, so I take my rightful place in the B team, bit of a relief that as it means I can’t pull down the placing of the high flyers in the A team.
So the day dawns wet and cold (don’t all Sundays in the cross season?) and Thomas and I head off to our day in the mud. Thomas races first in the Under 12’s, has fun, gets peeved because someone falls off in front of him, gets over it, plays with his mates – perfect day for a 10 year old (and for a 45 year old come to think of it).
The main race starts in a muddy field from where we channel into some narrower singletrack and the positions soon settle down, at least they do where I am – no idea what is happening up front. So I trudge round for an hour around a pretty challenging but enjoyable circuit and trail in gloriously mid-field.
Afterwards in the canteen, riders chat and bemoan the end of the cross season, whilst I can’t help but applaud my good sense in not having spent every sunday for the last three months suffering like I have today. Truth be told, I’m not tough enough and I admire those who are – give me a road race on a hot summers day and I’m your man but a winters cross racing – youv’e got to be tough for that.
Back home Thomas discovers a good way to supplement pocket money, when dads knackered and he’s got a dirty bike….

So, whilst Hugo, Ian and Simon were doing Mosquito/Londoncyclesport proud at the National Cyclocross Champs (Hugo 6th in the Juniors, fantastic result) I was plugging away round some distinctly mucky Kentish lanes in the company of the other participants of the Old Portilian’s Reliability Trial.
Distinctly ‘old-school’ it was too. None of the gloss of the Sportive, just pay your five pounds, slurp down a cup of tea and away you go for 100km of lumpy riding in the company of riders a lot fitter than oneself (in my case).I had the company of team mates Matt and Iain for the first 20k or so until Matt punctured which left me hanging onto the the wheels of the fast bunch I had foolishly attached myself to. Not for long though, once the hills got longer I was ‘out the back’ and on my own and feeling pretty lousy. So for 30k or so I trudged along on my own, hauling myself over the Ashdown climb and on into Edenbridge where Matt and Iain rejoined me. Good to see them but on the other hand I also knew it meant trying to hang on again rather than suffering on my own and as the dreaded Toys Hill loomed

I knew there would be plenty of suffering ahead. Matt kindly waited at the top of the climb and we rode in together to the Village Hall for bacon rolls and cake – perfect post-ride recovery food!
A good day and good company. Pity my legs hurt so much the next day though

 

 

(Photo courtesy, Andy Jones)

It appears to be catching on, this cyclo-cross lark, especially with the – shall we say – more mature cyclist.

The record field of well over 500 riders for this year’s national championships in Sutton Coldfield included around 120 veterans on the grid for the 40-49 age group.

Now, 120 riders trying to reach the opening left-hander in pole position is quite likely to lead to some kind of argy-bargy – although vets generally handle their bikes very well and are keener than most to get home without any broken bones. But I was rather expecting the first corner to be the problem, rather than the actual grid.

And so the rider sprawled on the tarmac in front of Neil Simpson of London Phoenix and myself was getting short shrift. We weren’t even over the start line, for pity’s sake, and were already pinned on the barriers watching a 120-man bunch fly by. This fella was scrabbling to get up and get going, his back wheel refusing to co-operate, while Neil and yours truly scrambled all over him, muttering unpleasantries. I feel a bit guilty now, in the cold light of day…actually, no I don’t.

Having started halfway up the field I was now looking at around 80 riders to chase. Oh well, start from scratch, don’t panic and pick ‘em off.

It’s amazing how many people you can overtake simply by riding smartly and not making silly mistakes. What had seemed during warm-up a rather dull course – dry, featureless and lacking any running sections save a couple of planks – was actually pretty challenging. A few sharp little inclines had people struggling. A short section of woodland had riders hitting the brakes and taking poor lines. Those with too much air in their tyres were slipping on grassy corners as the off-camber surface took its toll on the unaware and unsteady.

So without unduly forcing the issue and hammering myself to the point of going into the red I weaved through the field as best I could and spent the whole 40 minutes overtaking, which is, to my mind, always preferable to having people overtake for 40 minutes.
The only downer was finishing third in a three-way sprint for the line but there was literally nothing left in the tank by that point. 40th overall, 12th in the over-45 category. No complaints, but hoping for a tough course next year and a clean getaway from the grid.

While us lesser-knowns were frittering around many minutes adrift, the great – and incredibly nice bloke – Nick Craig was crossing the line with his arms in the air having won in his first year as a veteran.

No great surprise there, but he did turn up again the next day and give the leading men a run for their money in the elite race. Respect to Mr Craig!

Boxhill in the snow

As you will have noticed we’ve had some proper winter conditions over the last week. Lots of fun – sledging with the kids, snowball fights, traffic chaos….all the usual stuff. But the best bit has to be mountain biking in the snow. Faced with thick ice on all but main roads, any kind of sensible ride on the road is out of the question, so heading out into the hills to hear your tyres crunch through the snow is the only option. Of course getting to the off-road bit involves some road riding, which around my way last weekend meant negotiating the bike through a series of ice-rinks linked by occassional stretches of tarmac. Easier on a thick tyred mtb than a skinny road bike but still a test of handling skills. As long as you keep it light on the pedals and don’t brake or turn you should be fine!
So I had a great ride last sunday, two and a half hours zig-zagging my way around Boxhill and Ranmore Common in the North Downs. A great blast and a real workout, it’s amazing how quickly one warms up when slogging up an off-road climb!
The downside of the weather is the necessity to catch the train into work rather than ride in. Living 30 miles from Mosquito allows me to do a good bit of my training by simply riding into the shop. The state of the roads this week has made this impossible and I’ve been relegated to the train along with everyone else (and their germs!).
Still it’s nearly Christmas and if the snow stays I’ll be out their playing in it again on Boxing Day and hopefully working off a bit of the Christmas Spirit. Merry Christmas!

uphill

So, son Thomas had his eye on a cyclocross race at Herne Hill last saturday, he’s racing in the Under 12’s now and this was to be part of the British Cycling club championships, meaning an opportunity for him to score points for his club Preston Park Youth CC. I figured if we were to go to the trouble of going along I might as well make the most of it and enter the Senior event myself.

My last cyclocross race was a rather poor showing back in February at the London League team champs where I made a pretty poor job of ‘making up the numbers’!

Preparations begin the night before, sorting out the bike. I use my Independent Fabrication Planet X as my winter commuting/training bike and am afraid it only gets the occasional outing as a race steed. So, mudguards and lights off and ‘cross tyres on. Fortuntately I have a pair of fantastic Mavic R-SYS wheels on loan from Mavic which shod with a good set of’cross clinchers are hard to beat (at my level at least, the top guys swear by tubulars run at ridiculously low pressures, but that’s a whole other story).

Thomas’s race is at 11.15 so we are at the track 45 mins before, giving him a chance to ride round and me plenty of time to sign him on and get numbers. Around 15 riders line up for the Under 12’s race and pretty soon a lead group of 3 forms – Thomas, a lad from the  Velo Club Londres (my old club and riding on home turf at Herne Hill) and another  from Team Darenth. The 3 ride together for a couple of laps but then the gaps open as experience shows, Thomas finishes in 3rd a very happy boy and his first podium finish of the ‘cross season – worth a few points for the club and £6 to add to the pocket money kitty!

It’s a couple of hours till my race so I head off to warm up and Thomas goes off to the catering stall to fill up on bacon sarnies.
I sit myself back on the grid for the race start not wanting to get in the way of the ‘big boys’ and happy to settle for a plodding start. It doesn’t take long to settle into the groove though and I’m feeling pretty good till I look down at the pulse-monitor which tells me my pulse is 170 and I’ve only been racing for 10 mins. Bloody hell, no way I can keep this up for another 50 mins surely? But (I tell myself) that’s ‘cross racing, tough both physically and psychologically. Anyway 10 mins later and the pulse hasb’t dropped and I’m actually passing riders until ‘bang’, down I go. Trying to overtake on the side of some singletrack my front wheel goes down hard into a concealed hole and head over heels I go. Straight up again though and all seems well, bikes ok, bodies ok, new team kit isn’t torn so back on the bike and away we go. However I’ve lost a minute and the group I was passing have ridden away. Thirty minutes ridden so thirty to go (‘cross races being typically ‘an hour plus a lap’) and I have my usual crisis (along the lines of, I’ve been doing this for 30 mins and I’m knackered, there’s no way I can go on and anyway whats the point). This negativity  usually lasts about 10 minutes (until the finish starts to feel in reach) and sure enough with 15 mins left I’m still going strong and catching riders. A guy from the VCL holds onto my wheel for a lap but I eventually loose him in the technical sections and ride in to the finsh on my own, completely wiped out but satisfied.

Putting the bikes back in the car I miss the prize presentation where fellow Mosquito/Londoncyclesport  rider Matt Seaton picks up cash for 1st Vet and 3rd overall and there is much hilarity when Thomas has to go up to pick up my winnings for 6th Vet.
A good days racing for both of us. A low key race representing the grass roots and the real soul of our sport, organised by a local south London club, the De Laune, and the sort of event at which tomorrow’s Bradley Wiggins learn their trade and without which the sport has no future.
On the way home, hungry, we stop for a couple of bags of chips and reflect that perhaps it was’nt such a bad way to spend a dreary saturday in early December.