14th June 2010
Marcus and Baggy took part in the Paris Roubaix sportive:
Most cyclists will have a 'hit list' of classic routes, climbs, locations and
races that they hope to ride at some stage in their lives such as the climb to
Alpe D'Huez, riding the slick rock at Moab, Lands End to John O'Groats, Mont
Ventoux, Finale 24hr, Lanzarote Ironman (for the tri folk) to name but a few.
High on this list for me was to ride the sportive of the Queen of the Classics -
Paris Roubaix. Steeped in history and claimed to be one of the oldest cycling
races in the world the professional race of Paris Roubaix has always been a
spectacle as the pack take on the 255km route that includes 50km of cobbles or
pavé to give it's correct name. As much a test for the bike as the body it is a
race that challenges the best and for many it's just a case of surviving,
staying upright and hanging on for dear life. I wanted to have a go.
Luckily I wasn't alone as Tom (of BAD Tri fame) and Baggy were also keen to see
what all the fuss was about. Tom was already a veteran of the pavé having raced
the Tour of Flanders Sportive which has a similar mix of tarmac and cobbles but
had been warned that the Roubaix stones were a whole new experience.
Despite the name the route doesn't actually start in Paris and hasn't done since
the early 60's, instead it sets off 60km North East in Compiégne. Rolling into
town at 6am the day before the event we eventually found our basic bunker of a
hotel and spent most of day sleeping, eating, checking the bikes, checking the
legs and contemplating our fate.
Soon enough it was time to get on with it and at dawn the next day we stuffed
our route cards into back pockets, grabbed a cereal bar or four, secured all
loose items and set off. The first 100km were promised to be flat and smooth so
the plan was to get into a nice big peloton and stay off the front but we
quickly found ourselves in a group of about 12 so not easy to hide without
ruining international relations. Not that a rather vocal German girl was too
fussed about that as she angrily waved everyone through if she was forced
anywhere near the front. 85km passed quickly though with a few more rolling
hills than we expected and Baggy and I arrived at the first checkpoint feeling
good with Tom just behind having decided to save his legs on the last few hills.
We were met by our Directeur Sportive, Dave who said we had just missed a huge
group of about 80 riders who had come through together, damn! Bottles topped up
and pockets filled we regrouped and savoured the next 15 km of tarmac before the
punishment really began.
As we approached a sharp corner there were a number of marshals smiling and
crowds cheering which we thought was nice but as we turned we realised why they
were there. In front of us was what appeared to be a rough farm track loosely
set with cobbles, we were on skinny tyres, this didn't seem at all right but we
were about to experience our first taste of the pavé. Following the advice of
former PR veterans I changed into a big gear and accelerated onto the track as
hard as possible, there were bottles everywhere, bikes lay in the verge with
riders nearby and every 10m a puncture was being repaired. Pushing hard seemed
to work well as the bike skipped over the bumps nicely and I was soon through
the 2.2km secteur. Stopping with a big grin to wait for others it all seemed to
be going well so far. Tom appeared with foot unclipped as his cleat had shaken
loose and Baggy turned up a few minutes later having ejected one bottle and
clutching the other in his hand. 1 secteur down, 28 to go.
Like a staff member in McDonalds each secteur is given a star rating depending
on how adept they are at serving up their grim delights based on the quality of
the cobbles, number of potholes and general hideousness with 1 star being OK(ish)
and 5 stars being at the top of the Richter scale.. After another 1.8km section
we hit the 3.7km, 4 star Quievy to Saint Python sectuer. This was less fun as it
went on and on and cobbles were wider spaced so my momentum slowly ground down
and the slower you go the harder the bumps feel. Crawling off the end onto
blissful asphalt I pulled over to wait for the others. Tom emerged looking
shaken and not stirred but Baggy had now lost an entire bottle cage from his
post mounted bidon catapult. Someone uttered the fateful phrase "Thank goodness
it's not raining" as sure enough a few km's down the road the sky clouded over
and a few spots of rain were felt. The bone dry, dust covered pavé was now
glistening and waiting to throw the unsuspecting rider into a ditch. Luckily the
bikes seemed to handle well though with all 28mm of rubber being used to our
advantage to weave around the more cautious Euro-roadies. Now raining properly
my snipe-like frame was suffering in the cold and as I pulled into the
checkpoint before Arenberg I was physically shivering, but maybe that was just
the fear of what lay ahead. The Directeur Sportive issued me my rain jacket, and
topped up supplies before sending us out onto the secteur we had all been
dreading the most, the 5 star Trouvée d'Arenberg (or Arenberg Trench to you and
me). The pro's hit this at 60 km/hr and it has been the scene of some
spectacular crashes which is why it's often lined 4 deep with spectators. For
some reason they hadn't turned up today but we tried to put on a good show for
the handful of supporters braving the rain. We rode into it hard and almost into
the back of some Italian mountain bikers who had decided to use their brakes
right in front of us. But the stones soon sapped any speed and for the majority
of it's 2.4km length The Trench made us work for every pedal stroke as each
cobble seemed to stop the bike dead. Surprisingly the majority of riders chose
the smooth cinder track alongside the cobbles but
surely that's like riding to the bottom of Ventoux and then going round it? Sure
it's not the easiest or fastest route but it's part of cycling folklore and
needs to be ridden.
'Just' 17 secteurs and 100km to go.
Now all riding at our own pace so as to stay warm (though the pavé helped our
bodies generate some heat!) we battled on through the rough and the smooth. With
legs getting weary it was getting hard to attack the cobbles with much gusto so
it was now a case of pushing through as best we could. Frequently changing hand
positions on the bars seemed to help on the longer sections and the thick double
layer of bar tape took out some of the sting. It was getting painful to uncurl
my fingers from the bars once back onto the roads though.
Some hours later I arrived at the penultimate checkpoint. After drinking what
appeared to be energy mouthwash, eating some cheese triangles with salami,
several ham sandwiches and an orange I was ready to go just as Tom appeared
looking like he'd crawled out the Somme. The pavé had claimed another victim and
he'd taken a tumble, scraping his knee and producing a nice smear of blood down
his leg. He seemed pleased with this look.
The last 30km were a blur of farmland, villages, lovely smooth rolling roads and
7 more secteurs of pavé. Before long there was a sign for 3km to Roubaix and I
found myself in a group on Londoners as I entered the outskirts of the town.
Somehow we found the strength to sprint between the red lights and suddenly
swung round and into the bowl of Roubaix velodrome, the traditional finish to
the pro race. Feeling bold I found enough pace to get high onto the banking
before swinging round to the finish grinning from ear to ear. Tom was next to
arrive and seemed to be gunning for the line against another rider while still
bleeding from the knee. Powered by the mighty tartiflette from the night before
and a mind-bending, extra strength caffeine gel Baggy romped home too with most
of his bike still working. Next stop, food and lots of it, beer, collect our
commemorative cobble and a fair bit of massaging of sore forearms.
Epic is a term that is often bandied around to describe rides and events but
this is surely one that justifies that title, in fact you could call it
classically epic!
So another one to tick off the hit list and a real benchmark set, time to see
what's next...
7th June 2010
Pics
from
photo-it.com
As usual LVIS fielded a strong team at the Brisol Bikefest, with some strong results though no podiums this year. The puncture fairy seemed to be quite upset with LVIS though - probably paying for several previous years with few problems. Regardless, everyone had a brilliant time as the weather stayed sunny and the LVIS race area was clearly the place to be.
Supremes – 5th/42 - Mixed
Pirates – 98th/124
– Male (though some laps were docked due to 'timing discrepancies'...) - Giles,
Mike W, Dylan, Chris S
Pics are here:
http://www.photo-it.com/bbf/bristolbikefest05-jun-10.htm
Results are here:
http://timelaps.co.uk/assets/uploads/EventReport.aspx?eventID=130AshtonCourt05/06/2010
3rd June 2010
LVIS sent a team to the Finale Ligure 24 hour race in Italy for the first time. Paddy T writes:
A team of 4 intrepid LVIS riders set out from Bristol Temple Meads on an overcast Wednesday morning with the sole intention of conquering the 24h de Finale. After a journey involving four trains, dismantling bikes twice, riding across two European capitals and up one bloody big hill Ant, Celia, Nouveau and Paddy arrived at a semi deserted race course on top of a hill in the Italian Riviera. We were quickly given a guided tour by Riccardo and chose a delightfully shaded camping spot adjacent to some Germans (more of them later). By the time we got set up it seemed right to hit the beach for some race preparation followed by practicing our ability to drink cheap red wine.
Friday was spent reccying the course and realising it was by far the best 24hr race course any of us had seen. Followed by some light exercise in the afternoon and realising that an Italian “XC” route is best tackled with body armour and bigger bikes.
The race on Saturday started in the local town square with a 3km “neutralised” road section and long offroad climb before joining the race course proper. Following a quick read of the Gazzetta and a café corretto in the square Nouveau was off to a blistering start.
The race went fairly uneventfully apart from the music, which included Paddy standing in the change over area being forced to listen to bagpipes, thumping euro beats at all hours of the night and the steady thrum of generators despite their being electric hook-ups provided all over the campsite.
With a total of 32 laps in 24 hours 18 minutes and 16 seconds the Las Vegas Institute of Sport Super Friends finished in 13th out of 50 in the four man male competitive category (apparently you need more than one female to be mixed or some such), which was 48 out of 115 overall in the competitive teams (which we hasten to point out included such bizarre things as 8 and 12 man teams). Despite there being no dance off at the awards ceremony we still managed to pick a prize for travelling to the race by train.
Following the race we had a few more days R & R before tackling the journey home.
We give the race 10 stars for the following: weather, company, course, Don Riccardo of Finale, free buffs, prize sunnies, scorpions, journey booze, arts 'n' craft fun, sneaking in to camp-sites for showers, squirty cream, Italians, Germans, Dave from Holland, 29ers, Euro Lycra, Cippo, Piazzas, Pizzas, Cafe, whether Elaborato, coretto or espresso, Gazetta del Umbrella, Getting lost, big rocks, getting found, bikes in the loo, travel Cluedo, the Stylophone, Lokomotive Stuttgart, stickers and free pasta.
Back to the Germans, both during the race and following it they put together a fantastic video which can be seen here.
Following the experience this year it is anticipated that LVIS will put together a bigger squadron for next year!
19th May 2010
There
was also LVIS representation at the other end of the country with a few entries
in the erenti Cornwall Tor (previously known as the North Cornwall Tor).
Unlike last year the weather was not playing ball, and no matter how much
praying to the Sun Gods was done the prayers were not answered! Waking up to a
grey, damp and windy Sunday morning.
Russ, Jimmy and Giles headed off on the 72 mile route with LVIS jerseys hidden
by wet weather gear ready for a day of wind and rain, but soon started looking a
little like boil in the bag cyclists. After much complaining (from the
regulars) that the start of the ride appeared to be much more "up and down" than
last year we suddenly found ourselves in Port Isaac - and realising that they
had swapped the route direction to last year.
Just after the first feed station the clouds finally released the wet stuff on
us making the descents as tricky as the ascents. There appeared to be as many
people walking down some of the hills as there were walking up them...
Once the hills were done the route turned into the strong headwind making life
very difficult on the exposed straight roads on top of the moors - never has a
flat road felt so steep!
finishing in under 6 hours was a good result and well up the results sheet.
Also entering the 44 mile route, and earning a spot on the LVIS hall of fame
were Jo and Lauren (Mrs Russ and Mrs Jimmy) which was the first ever sportive
that either had entered. Entering one of the most challenging sportives that
the UK could throw at them was either brave or stupid - but at least it will
make the next race seem easy!
All that was left was to shower and head to the pub for some well earned
isotonic Skinners Ginger Tosser...
18th May 2010
LVIS
took part in the Etape Caledonia on Sunday May 16th
looking forward to covering themselves in
purple and gold glory. Undeterred by looming clouds of ash, Baggy, Neil, Nathan
and Jon shlepped up to Scotland by any means possible, regrouping on the
Saturday to register and get in a decent training ride to the ice cream shop and
back.
Although the BBC was staunch in its outlook, the expected deluge of rain never materialised and all were treated to sunny skies and decent riding conditions early Sunday morning. The unexpectedly pleasant weather soothed the nerves as we fought our way through the scrum at the start line to get away about 25 minutes after the first wave which included notable entrants Graham Obree, Ben Fogle and James Cracknell.
The initial adrenaline, overly exuberant pace and resulting high heart rates failed to dissipate and we cracked along at a decent speed. Few if any pace lines were able to break the LVIS stranglehold with any breakaways being chased down with gusto until age and experience got the better of us and we agreed to settle in for the long haul at about the 20 mile mark. Truth be told, a couple of us couldn’t resist the carrot being dangled and the LVIS squad fractured never to regroup until the finish 61 miles and several hours later….
Having never ridden the event before all of us rode measured performances (even if some of those measurements were wildly optimistic), expecting some nasty Scottish climb to catch us out, yet for most this never materialised with even the fabled Schehallion King of the Mountains section being riddled with sustained flat and even downhill sections, clearly the event organisers need to come ride the LVIS Audax to understand the meaning of a true climb.
Closed Roads, a fast course and decent weather saw some great times, notably Baggy who came in at 3.58, 274th 30 minutes behind the Weiner. The rest of the LVIS Squad cruising in at 4.11 and 4.19, having dispatched the local domestiques and Elvis wannabes with ease.
Despite some shady and rather last minute organisation, unpredictable weather and competition hell bent on wheel sucking we had a great time… interestingly If we’d pulled our fingers out and filled in the reg forms correctly we had a team that would have finished 8th overall. Oh and we beat Fogle (if not Cracknell who actually seems to be rather quick for a rower) which has to be good.
20th April 2010
LVIS took on the best singlespeeders Europe has to offer at the Singlespeed European Championships, held in the Forest of Dean and came away with a podium placing, several top 20 placings and a brilliant weekend's memories, not to mention several prizes.
Notable performances:
Andy B for his third place finish. Nouveau, Leon, Marcus, Nick for top 20 placings
Nick (shown left) may well have also done rather that his top 20 finish had he been able to reach his bike which had been hung up in a tree, out of his reach at the start
Bill for winning the prize for 'crappest rider' and a two day mtb skills course
Paddy for winning the dance off to win a set of spangly cranks
Dylan for nearly winning the bike throwing contest
The Belgian team for giving away gorgeous Belgian beer to anyone who wanted any
The Knights of Niche for putting on a fantastic event and even ensuring sunny weather.
Pics will be up in the gallery shortly.
pic courtesy of Richard Lowerson
1st April 2010
Result!
The 2011 Singlespeed European Champions will be hosted in Las Vegas. The
organisers of SSEC10 liked our bid so
much that they've given it to us in advance of the proposed competition to get
it so the organisation starts here! We'll be racing in amongst the desert
cactuses on a course that will showcase the best LVIS has to offer and the
off-bike entertainment is set to be the stuff of legend.
More details to follow as we get them but rest assured that it'll be the best
SSEC ever!
29th March 2010
The
inaugural LVIS Audax was a huge success with 170 riders taking part
and having a great time. The weather changed from the forecast rain
to generally dry conditions with some wind to mix things up. The cake
stops were fantastic and clearly appreciated by all the riders.
Photos are available in the gallery and will be updated as we get more.
Marcus and Andy L, who take the credit for starting and organising such a great event have written a message of thanks to all the helpers:
Cheers, all went incredibly well
and the feedback from the riders was very positive (quotes include
"Best Audax ever!", "Best route sheet I've seen",
"Delicious cakes"). Looks like we're committed to doing it
again next year already!
I think we showed everyone that LVIS
don't do things by halves and hopefully showed some of the younger
riders how much fun Audaxing can be.
It was all down to the
huge amount of hard work put in by all the helpers and we couldn't
have done it without them:
Celia and Ant - cakes, signs, Hill
Control
Tess and Jamie - photos
Baggy and Phil D -
Marshalling
Andy's Parents - Signing on, soup and catering
Giles
- signing on
Kirsty S - serving cakes
Steph - serving
cakes
Marcus E - Hillesley Control
Frasier and Danni
-Glastonbury Control
Martin - Clevedon Control
Cath - cakes and
signing on
Nouveau - posters, map and marketing
Jimmy - photos
and cake serving
Andy W - Bike shop stall
Kirsty M - cake
baker, signing on secretarial duties
Hill WI - pavlova providers
Hopefully I haven't forgotten anyone but if I have then THANK
YOU!
Thank you one and all.
21st February 2010
A reminder about the LVIS Audax taking place on March 28th. With cake! Full details here
14th February 2010
Ian and Baggy took on the Cotswold Corker:
Baggy and I made it to the start of the corker and struggled round the very tough 110km in the mud and bitter cold. It was a good day out as expected, bar a couple of mechanical issues (notably, Baggy’s fancy mudguards getting so full of mud that his back wheel wouldn’t go round). Cleeve Hill remains very steep (some old gents ended up in the ditch as usual), and the roads are still awful with mud, gravel, potholes and ice in roughly equal measure (excellent Paris-Roubaix preparation for Baggy, bar the hills). Cakes were excellent and frequent, and we only got a little bit lost once (an improvement on last year).
1st January 2010
Happy New Year everyone! Here's to yet another brilliant year of purple and gold!