Jump - IG London Nocturne - Urban Cross

This girl is really giving it some welly with her cheering

IG London Nocturne

1st Woman - Urban Cross
1st Team - Rapha Condor - Women's City Challenge (3rd rider is counting rider).

Another year and another Nocturne gets even better.
Coverage of the racing Sunday 16th 8am Chanel 4

How to absolutely smash it at the Etape.

Right, I’ve had a packet of Snack a Jacket, half a bottle of ‘This Innocent Juicy Water’??? I’m hyped up on e-numbers ready to wax lyrical about a topic that strikes fear into people’s heart, down to their very core.

Last week I got two emails, same topic, totally opposing outlooks.

Correspondent A “Im freaking out about training……. give me some boom based mlwords of motivation haha!”

Correspondent B “it holds no fear if I am honest, this years etape is short and frankly are not the challenges of years gone past. The views are stunning, I am really looking forward to this years etape.”

I rode the complete etape route about a month ago. The only difference when I ride it again in July, should be the weather and 20,000 other people.

1. You’ll get round
End of the story. It’s a long day out but you’ll get round, because I did. So stop being wet and a sissy. Stop worrying about dying on the climb and start thinking about stepping it up so your get some sweet Strava PB, QOM, KOM, PR and every other acronym they now score you on.
Now its true I am one of those cyclist people but its not true I’m very fit. I mostly spend my time riding laps around a course for 1 hour. The course it mostly flat and has lots of bends.

The longest I’d ridden this year was Rapha’s Hell of the North. I rode from my house in South West London up to route, around it and then had some chips and rode home. Call it 129km, I even managed a PB on the Streatham Hill Sprint! Then the next month I rode the Etape course with a 53/39 so its possible.

2. Pace the first 20km
The first rise out of the lake is really twisty lots of switchback. You’ll be ascending the Cote du Puget. Oh my goodness. Views over the lake were amazing. So instead of smashing it up the climb, giddy with joy at riding the etape, ease off, get out the pain box and check out the amazing lake.

3. Get a group for Col des Pres
The Col des Pres is a really really boring ascent. It’s a straight road within a valley. Yeh great, a lovely valley to look at, right. Well yes, except you’ll have been navigating through the valley for about the last 18km steadily climbing.
So forget admiring the view and get on someone’s wheel that is chipping along at a speed just out of your comfort zone.
Get your googley eyes all over their rear tyre and fix your 1000 mile stare on it until your get to the top.
You’ll get that 3.5km 6% climb over in no time and some big French dude has saved you a load of energy by being a nice big wind block for you.

5. Mont Revard – munch your lunch!
I’ve not got much to say about this climb. Just got to sit there in the saddle and climb. Soak it up, your in the etape. Your going up a road that Froome-Dog is going to be in in just two weeks.
Climb it steady, climb how you like. In and the saddle out the saddle alternating the position to test your muscles.
It’s a gradual climb with the occasional bend so you’ve got plenty of time to munch on some lunch.
It will probably be between noon and 1.30pm by the time your mid Mont Revard. You can get a nice bit of tucker in your and your body processing it on the descent of the climb ready to hit the final spike.
I’ll be having – Salami I’ve wrapped up in foil, Banana, followed by some dried Apricots, Jelly babies and a bit of chewy Nougat for dessert
Washed down with some water with a natural tasting nuun tablet
At the top look to your left. There will be a SWEET view of the lake!

8. Get a Rapha Wind Jacket
The descents from the Mont Revard and Semnoz will be chilly. There will be all sorts of sweat going as your ride up it, so you don't want to give yourself a chill as you hit 50km/h on the way down.
Cold muscles are about as pliable as wood and getting your legs going after 15 mins of chilling yourself to the core is going to feel dreadful!
Rapha's wind jacket packs nice and small, its ultra lightweight and blocks the chilly wind like no other. Plus I think it might be slightly shower proof, well I've worn it in the rain!

9. Semnoz is cruel
10km right? Wrong you start climbing 5km back from that on a steady gradient. Then you reach Quintal and you'll have 10km left. The gradient never stays steady and you can't see the top. A bit like British climbs that jerk all over the place.
2km from the top you will clear the trees. From here you'll have 15mins left on the course. The gradient kicks and this is where you can give it everything. You'll start to see a ski chalet in the distance. Dig in and aim for it.
I rode a 52/39 - its way too big gear for the Semnoz. Grab a compact and dance up the really steep bits. The front of my knees hurt the day after. Not muscle soreness but an ache from the bone.

10. Toptube to Map
Print off the profile and annotate it. Write things you want to remember. Even if its totally basic stuff you already know lots about. If you don’t have space on your top tube. Punch a hole in your print out and zip tie it to the stem.
Yeh – I know, not very pro. But its also not very pro to find yourself tired and hungry and another 20km to go.

Words & Pictures

I remember when Le Métier was first released and I casually flicked the pages and said to myself, I should really get this. Skip forward about three seasons and finally, I have a copy to call my own, I got it around the time of the CX season and have only now managed to get through to the end.

It's not a tough read, in fact I loved it and it drew me in instantly. Charting the four seasons of Michael Barry, I first opened the book when I was in my winter season so his descriptive prose about winter almost motivated me to get out on my bicycle and brave the cool winds.

The for whatever reason it sat on my bookshelf and I picked it up again when the Pro Tour was deep into the cobbled classics week and it was perfect reading. Le Métier then got put away again as I got tangled reading 'The Night Circus' (an incredibly beautifully written book, but lacking a good plot!)

Finally I reached for it during the two May bank holidays and it was perfect supplementary reading to the Giro.

My favorite sections are winter and summer. The spring chapter sees Barry fix on a rather sad time caused by a chain of unfortunate events, the chapter is very well written but it brings the reality of bike racing and that isn't as much fun as reading about someone's elation at riding their bike like in the other chapters.

I'm about three years too late to this read, but like many things you'll kick yourself for not grabbing a copy sooner. I remember at the time of its release the images by Camille J McMillan were a revelation, I'd never really seen such a vast collection of images taken of the pro peloton in that manner. It's still great to gaze over even now.

 This book got banished to the bottom of my handbag and for months it was just something I was carry around, serving only as additional weight to improve my left shoulder's strength.

I got it because John Herety said its the book that Ed Clancy goes to to control his motivation and help him win. In fact 'the Chimp Paradox' is apparently the go to book for Hoy & Pendleton too.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get on with it, by chapter 5 I was having to make notes to keep myself remembering what all the phrases and terms meant:

Stone of truth - one's values, beliefs 

Chimp- a complex little thing that is influenced by a whole manner if things that can affect the way you behave, it can have a positive and negative impact on your behavior 

Computer- where all your past experiences are stored and acts as a reference point for the chimp

Gremlins - hard-wired information about how you respond to something - cannot be changed

Planets - I'm not sure yet???... 

Goblins - a stored response that can be adapted or changed

The Core Moon - preparation to undertake a task 

I'm sorry but its read like something scientologists would spout. Chapters 2-3 had lots of good practice ideas raised. The author, Dr. Steve Peters says that your chimp is a simpleton from the ice age and is quick to react and this can cause anger you don't want and then after the event you can feel bad as you didn't control the chimp and allowed it to make you angry. Dr. Peters also says you should take your chimp for a walk, that means go a find a friend and talk to them about all the worries the chimp has. Beyond that, I ran out of strength.

Then there are the pictures in the book, drawn like a child and annotated in comic sans, blurgh! I guess it was to keep it simple maybe even jovial. For me, there is only so long you can read a book and have comic sans staring back at you before you want to throw it. 

I suffer for a distinct bout of self confidence  when reading it on the tube. paranoid plenty of people were peering over my shoulder looking at my comic sans annotations.

I'm sure Hoy, or Queen Vicky P weren't just handed the book and told to read it. Team GB probably paid for regular sessions with the author to discuss themes and any questions they raised about 'foundation stones' and their 'guiding moon' could be talked through.

I've got a degree in sports science and one of my favorite areas was sport psychology and specifically understanding motivation and mental preparation therefore I recognized when the author was referencing an accepted theory. I can appreciate that renaming cognitive evaluation theory and its various components into simplistic terms will greatly help some readers understand why they do or do not feel they want to get on a rainy morning and go for a cycle ride. But dressing it up with chimps doesn't quite mean much to me. Prepare yourself for a tough read, maybe one for a plane flight to Australia.

Inside-out sees the return of Camille McMillans's images accompanied by the unique writing style of Tom Southam, whom journeyed with the Rapha Condor Sharp team during their 2012 season, exploring what it is like to be a first year professional. At times Tom can be terribly honest and dour, but I enjoy his prose and the sullen is punctuated with some really uplifting chapters like the interview with David Millar after his breakaway at the 2012 tour was converted into a stage win.

There are a few copies around in Condor and a few on Sharp's website. It's well laid out and very easy to dip in and out of. Be warned:  if you have a vision of glamour by the life of a pro cyclist prepare for Mr Southam to successful dash any dreams, he's very good at 'keeping it real'. But least I'm not under any illusions.

I'm very intrigued to read Mr Southam's next piece of work - the co-authored book of the life and times Charlie Wegelius the now Garmin-Sharp DS (I'm not sure of the actual title - it's due out this June).

 'In search of Robert Millar' and 'the Dirtiest Race in History: Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis et al' both really riveting reads authored by Richard Moore a former cyclist. His latest cycling piece Sky's the Limit is an engaging tale of Sky's beginning and development the trials the team faced in the first few seasons, the problem is Team Sky suffers from Kremlin-itus, a condition that causes everyone to over analyze ever single thing Team Sky do & write a length about the tiniest of detail. Theories, discussions, analysis are scattered all over cycling internet sites, there are regular features on Sky riders in magazines. The team Sky website is itself well maintained and chocked full of images, stories, blogs, race reports. Sky released a documentary in the autumn of 2012 covering much of the content that Moore raises in his book so for me as a cycling fan, the book is a recap on events that I'd already read at some length about. 

I think this book is suited to my  non cycling hobbyists who occasional dip into the Tour, ride the odd sportive, hold a BBQ in celebration of the Olympic road race. They will enjoy it and I've handed it to many of them instead of trying to provide this with mismanaged answers to their Team Sky questions.

Now, Goldfinger by Ian Flemming has squat to do with cycling heck unlike the other books ive read this spring it doesnt even have pictures. Goldfinger is a compact little book that gets down to business within the first page, not really anything like the film and it is brilliant. If you fancy a few hoursoff cycling   consumed in a world of 1950s espionage written by someone at the time rather than a modern day author's hazy view of it packed with clichés, this it right up your street. 

I found that alternating between cycling non-fiction and full throttle fiction the perfect balance.

I've yet to pick up Tyler Hamilton's book / expose, everyone says its fascinating but I'm concerned it will just spoil everything. I'll give it three years, like Le Métier and then give myself a punch for delaying it for so long!

Now hopefully the sun will come out and give me a reason not to sit inside and read books all day.

HOTN

Gloveless, top tube grip.
That section was nearly as bumpy as the true Rouabix Pave.

I did a side pony tail, so I wouldn't look like a little boy, but its seems to have disappeared. Grrrr.
That's the one problem with all the helmet, glasses guff.

I am Buster

busterthestreetcat.tumblr.com

Vicious Velo Mascots

Le maillot BOOM

For smashing stuff , beating the odds or doing wicked sprints.

The first awardee this season is Ed Laverack for his determination at the 2013 Tour of Normandie.
The welsh kid was one minute cycling through the black mountains and the next pulling on a Rapha Condor JLT jersey to turn pro within 18 months.

Balint's Back!

Balint Humvas the CX shooter has released his third book. It follows the circus of riders and events in the 2012/2013 season.
He also photographed myself and fellow Vicious team mate at the Koppenberg Cross, our first foray into continental cyclo cross racing. 

"It’s that time of the year. It’s been a great season. I covered over 30 races this year, I have travelled over 22 000 miles, I got up at 4am all too often to capture the great, poignant or painful moments of the season. The end of the season is very close now and my new book about the season will be available soon. It is a very exciting project – just as it was last year and I am aiming to make an even better book this time. I received a lot of good feedback about the 2011/2012 book and I have used all this feedback to enhance this year’s edition further."

Further details here

My way to 100k

If someone told me tomorrow that in the summer I would have to run a marathon, I wouldn't know where to begin. I usually run 10k every few weeks but I'd have no clue how to progress my runs around the local duck pond to running for up to 5 hours in a mass participation event.

Luckily I don't have to do that. But I can share confusion or frustrations of new riders or competent short distance riders not knowing the best way to progress their riding and those looking not just to 'get through' but 'smash!' a 100k ride.

Suffering is in discriminate of gender, rider type, event or ability. It is a terrible feeling to be half way through a ride and be hating it or thinking the task is not manageable and you want to quit. That's why a little bit of preparation and mixing your riding will take you further and faster, and able enjoy 100k ride, just like your were eating a piece of cake.

In 2010 I quit the Maratona Dolomites Gran Fondo half way through. I just couldn't handle riding up the huge climbs and I hadn't prepared well for it. The following year I went back and in 2011 I finished the route and was the 10th fastest women on the course out of the 20,000 participants. I wasn't aiming for that kind of result but the more I rode the more comfortable I felt.

I split my spring training into 3 types of ride. Each has its advantages and alternating the type of ride will stop any kind of boredom developing into cessation.
It also aids fitness and equips your body with a range of riding skills allows you to accelerate and join a faster group or move around a group of riders you may not want to descend with on the other side.

On rest days, remember to do something to keep your body moving, running, swimming, yoga, walking (up to 20mins)

After 10th at the Maratona Dolomites Gran Fondo

LONG RIDE:  In your first week, you'll want to ride 1.5 to 2 hours, or about 20 miles, and build from there at 10 miles each week. (If you're already comfortable with a longer ride then start with 2.5 to 3 hours and follow the same guidelines for mileage building, topping off at about 85 miles.) Do your long rides at a steady, but not taxing, pace--about 70 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. Though most cyclists find that Saturdays or Sundays work best for their long rides, it doesn't matter which day you choose as long as you get it done.

 STEADY RIDE: During these rides, aim for two to four longer efforts (15 to 30 minutes in length; 15 minutes easy pedaling in between) that increase your breathing and elevate your heart rate to around 80 to 85 percent of your maximum. Ride at threshold, as if you're pedalling with someone slightly faster than you. These rides will simulate your goal for your century and train your body to ride more briskly while maintaining comfort, so you can finish 100k faster and fresher.
Ideal for when the weather is rubbish but you want to go out riding or you are out riding then the weather turns!

SPEED RIDE: Distance riders often skip speed work because they think they need volume, not intensity, to go long. But riding fast improves your endurance by raising your lactate threshold, the point at which your muscles scream "Slow down!" When you raise this ceiling, you can ride faster and farther before your body hits the brakes. Aim to do four to six very hard or max efforts ranging from 30 seconds to two minutes; in between, spin easy for twice the length of the interval. Do these on a challenging stretch of road, such as a hill or into a headwind.

SPACE OUT: Stuffing yourself full of calories prior to the ride will divert blood to your stomach, which weakens your legs and slows you down. Instead, eat a carbohydrate- rich breakfast of 400 to 500 calories two to three hours before big rides. Then aim to eat and drink 200 to 300 calories every hour thereafter. 

KEEP A STEADY FLOW: Consume at least one bottle's worth of energy drink per hour (more if it's hot) to provide electrolytes and a few carbohydrates. Choose a flavour that will entice you to sip often.

PEDAL YOUR PACE: The biggest newbie mistake is letting yourself be seduced into speeding along with faster riders early in the day, only to crack 60k in. Fall in with riders who pedal your pace and avoid going into the red (feeling breathless) for the first 50k. You'll finish fresh and strong.

Hastag: Women's 100

Go to Rapha's site to learn more about the #Womens100

Floating Books

Just installed floating book shelves.

Search: Umbra Conceal Book Shelf

My cycling memoirs

I signed up to the Rapha Women's 100 Facebook page  and was reading through the comments and noticed a few had queried how exactly they should kick start their riding and build to the 100k target.

Got me thinking of how I started cycling and how it lead to buying my first proper carbon road bike to now being able to leap onto a bike and choose the lanes I love to cycle through.

I had my bike at university that ended up covered in stickers but a catalyst to me wanting a bike at university was going on my very first cycling holiday with my dad and my sister. I can't remember exactly how old I was, I think between 14-16. We were due to drive to Felixstowe and get on our bikes and cycle onto the ferry, cycle off at the other end at Rotterdam port.
The night before Dad had put the bikes on the roof of the car ready for our early start. At three in the morning I heard our front door open and then slam and the lights came on. My sister met me on the landing and we were totally bemused about what was going on. Dad appeared at the bottom of the stairs in his claret red dressing gown and explained that my bike has been stolen.

I can't remember if I was upset or not. If that had happened to me now, in 2013, well, my heart just sinks even thinking about it hypothetically.
The holiday was booked and we ended up going in the car to Felixstowe. I can't remember if I walked onto the Ferry or I used another bike.
When we got to the other end, we met the organiser of the ride and they had a spare bike. The kind of bike that any 14 year would be gutted to receive. It is akin to the back up car that the presenters of top gear are threatened with should the vehicles they have purchased for a challenge completely fail.
It was a Trek T10 (I think). I remember looking very girlie and not cool like my sister's mountain bike with aggressive geometry and slick tyres and yellow branding.

Anyways my sister and I got on and road it together from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, roughly fifteen a day with little stops in between where Dad would buy us chips. The route was as flat, we stayed in a castle one night, passed numerous windmills and when we arrived in Amsterdam we had lunch on the roof of a museum.

Then I didn't really do any cycling of note for years.

C. 2005 I'm in my second year at university I had a skinny tubed, narrowed handlebar road going bike-esq-thing. I used it to go shopping and lectures and to the train station.
My weekly Dance-a-cise classes were going well and we'd nearly learnt the whole Thriller routine, ready for a bit end of term finale. I decided I wanted to be more activity but not be bound by attending a weekly class.

I knew this lad, who was a friend of a friend and he live down the seafront in Worthing. So I thought I'd cycle to Worthing and if I got into trouble, I could knock on his door and ask for a biscuit.
So I cycled from where I lived in Brighton along the cycle path to Worthing, 19km.
When I arrived at the pier I felt pretty happy with myself.
A sat for a bit, thinking I'd need some rest before I try & cycle the 19km back.

The following week I did it again. Though this time I decided I needed a reason to go, as sort of motivation. I can't remember why, but I knew the lad in Worthing liked cats (don't we all!) so I printed out a picture of a cat and wrote a message on the back.
I cycled to Worthing and put it through the letterbox.
I did it again another week and again with different pictures of fat ginger cats, talking about how they like to grind up mice and put it in their tea.
The more I rode the faster I became, the quicker I would complete my missions. I even saw Zoe Ball playing tennis once whilst out on my cycling/cat missions.

Then I got tired of doing that, so I stopped cycling to Worthing, decided to find a different longer route.
A few weeks later I saw my friend in a lecture. At a dull point in a seminar I told them about the cat letter secret missions. Turns out the lad from Worthing, Kev, lived below a lass with a ginger cat. He thought the letters were sort of strange advancements towards him, using her cat as a communication channel.

I like to think my love of cats and emerging fondness of cycling yielded a happy partnership in the end. But I will never know.

When I graduated a year later, my mum gave me £500 as a reward. I put it towards the purchase of a carbon road bike to go faster and further on two wheels.

So, where should you start. Cycle where you are comfortable, cycle where you can get away from traffic, use a bicycle lane, make little targets. Then after a few weeks you'll want to start going further a field. Exploring and finding a hill to speed up or down.
It worked for me and now I've ridden all over the world. Over big mountains in the Dolomites to the sand dunes of a Belgium cyclocross race.

#womens100

Nearly 100

Rapha have pledged to get 100,000 women to ride 100km on the 7th July.
The 7th is also the day of the Etape, an event that follows the route of one stage of the Tour de France, which also happens to be celebrating its 100th year.

After only riding for up to an hour through the winter (Sept to Jan) as part of cyclo cross training, last weekend, I decided to bite the bullet and do a proper cycle. I sort of dreaded it, I don't really know why. All the terrible experiences of cycling flashed into my head. Apparently its your inner chimp, trying to stop you from doing something. (read Mind Management, if you want more of that guff)

I have recently become the owner of a new-old bicycle. The 2009 team bike, Dean Downing used whilst he was National Criterium Champion. I already ride an ex-Deano bike that is mudguard equipped and happens to be be that his size and shape is exactly how I like to ride, so a racier Dura-Ace equipped version with chunks PRO 125mm stem was very welcome.

I rode from South West London over the North downs looped around the lovely Hever Castle then back over the North Downs and into London. A loop just shy of Rapha 100km target at 92km or 58miles

Such was the enjoyment of my sojourn in the sun, I headed out the next day on a similar route for more. And an excuse to make more cake and eat it.

http://www.rapha.cc/womens100

Over the next weekend, I shall attempt to make up the 8 km's I was missing and make it to a round 100. 
You can share in everyone elses attempts to cycling 100km with the hastag #womens100

Tube @ 150

"London is quite a complex cognitive experience for people, some people can deal with that and others can't. London Underground was a way of easing people into modernity, I think it's made people more intelligent and LU posters are part of that."

London Transport Museum has selected 150 LU posters from 3,000 pieces which are on display in a new exhibition.

Oh my days. All you need to do is waste 20secs of your life

Owls

Yeh. So, I had a 1 on 1 owl experience day. Sadly it was in the freezing cold sleeting rain.
Neither me or the owls were really than enthused by it. But getting plenty of owls to fly to my glove and feed them a bit of chicken soon made me forget about how it was 1degree and I wish I'd worn Gore-Tex.

Also got to mess about with a Hawk and a Vulture that had a 7 foot wingspan.

The owls I met were Tawny Owl, Eagle Owl (a bit scary), Spotted Owl and Great Gray Owl.
They don't weigh anything and they are super soft.
Yeh it was fun. I'd like to do it again. Owls are fun.

This one looked well angry

Then he decided to stand on the floor

The Ride - Issue VII

The Ride Journal launched their seventh issue last night at Look Mum No Hands Cafe.

The new issue features a fresh new ad campaign for the Super Acciaio. The ads move away from hardened northern environment with a painted fan message on the climb to a hazy summer day and the inclusion of a Rapha-Condor JLT rider.
The shot is marked by a few lines, and offset position of the rider. The aim was the highlight the delights that a simple blast of acceleration down a favourite road can bring to anyone from team rider in training to one, my myself, out for a jaunt.

Tao and myself also add some literary flair (well Tao does) to pages 44 and 30 (respectively), while former Condor pro and 60s TdF rider Colin Lewis tells a story too.

US Vs. EU

Cyclocross seems to be mushrooming in popularity in North America faster than their hero Jeremy Powers canbunny hop a set of hurdles. By the same token Belgium’sobsessive objectification of cyclocross makes it a mecca for UK fans.

Sitting in our little British bubble buffered by the sea andoceans it seems a race has started between two nations.

Rapha’s Supercross series returned in 2012 using a blueprintfrom US based races and included cowbells, foam and plenty of audienceparticipation while Muddy Hell Halloween Cross from event organisers,Rollapaluza has been drawing the crowds for several years enticing cyclistsfrom all over London to share in a ghoulish pint and cheer on some guy who’sactively been encouraged to ride dressed as Mr Blobby.

In local races organisers are ready to imitate what we thinkis happening across the pond, rather than build the legitimacy of the race as asporting event. Long standing National Trophy races, such as Peel Park,Bradford have tried but can’t quite crack the banks for sponsors to host around of the World Cup and whilst it is a fantastic race, (if you get thechance you should go to spectate). It doesn’t look it is going to truly matchour continental friends.

For the first time in its sixty year history the WorldChampionships are venturing outside of its European home land and going to Louisville in Kentucky inAmerica.In a few short years who would have imagined the US to have risen through the ranksto of cyclocross to pull the big race.

British fans appear to be stuck between two cultures goinghead to head. One with traditionalist races where the language barrier is partof the draw the other has no history but plenty of willing and we canunderstand everything that is going on.

Who should we look to, who is better and what is the betterto waste our time obsessing over.

Britain’smost successful riders of the last decade have been female and two of themGabby Day and Helen Wyman. Day began her 2012/13 campaign in the States,finishing fourth in the prestigious Cross Vegas race in her first race forAmerican based Rapha-Focus team. She has been impressed by the growth ofcyclo-cross on the other side of the Atlanticand the relaxed and “less elitist” approach taken. “There are lots of big teamsbut it just seems friendlier,” she says. “The racers still take the sport veryseriously but with more of a smile! I think it is great that the Worlds is inthe USA.”

Speaking with Eurpoean Champion, Helen Wyman before she flewto America she made mentionof the progression Britain andBelgiumneeds to take equal US counterparts. “The crowds support everyone, and thewomen are prioritised rather than just being a support race. There is equalprize money, great organisers and information about races is easy to find.Europe is behind, in the USthey show the women’s race on TV or stream it online and the publicity isdifferent.”

Wyman admits that element of the sport are changing in Europe but it’s slow. She explained that the US and UK have asimilar culture. The USloves sports with audience participation. They love a show, and they loveheros. “Cyclocross is new, they don’t really have a history and they don’t haverace organisers who were racing in the 1950s. So they have created their ownvalues and ideas. Where everyone is equal and everyone deserves to berespected.”

It appears Americahas the upper hand, not so. Helen is very clear about what America and Europecan do for a rider “if you want a career and a business stick to American. Ifyou want to be World number one, you need points and you need to stay in Europe.”

Rapha’s Supercross organiser and cultural cyclo crosscommentator Ian Cleverly “I tuned in to live coverage of the US championships, intrigued to see if the sceneis as big in the States as it appears from the UK. The jury is still out on thatone. The park in Wisconsinwas visually unexciting, the course a dull, straight-line thrash. Outside thetop four or five riders, the drop-off in quality is steep. The threecommentators were unintentionally hilarious and less intelligible than thestandard chap I tune into on Sporza for Belgian races, and he talks Flemish…”

What does that mean for America and opening up theirversion of the sport to the world? The experienced pro Wyman rightly points out“There won’t be the mental 20,000 spectators spitting frites and beer, but thepeople that will be World Championships will be enthusiastic.”

The whole Belgiumbased ‘cross community travelling lock, stock and barrel to the States is aninteresting prospect. “Will the fans travel?” ask Cleverly “Is this one steptoo far in this globalisation obsession of the UCI’s? Can a compact crowd ofcolourful, cowbell-wielding whoopers create as much atmosphere as tens ofthousands of grey-clad, beered-up, smoking Belgians?”

What is clear is that we’ll have to carry on observing,we’ve known cyclo cross in the UKfor more than half a century but we haven’t quite got a handle on our own breed of it. There is nothing wrong with that but we are going to have to side with someone.

Prepare for a culture clash and some answers on the 2^ndFebruary 2013.

Thank-you to Helen Wyman – www.helenwyman.com

Ian Cleverly – Rouleur Magazine – Rouleur.cc/blog