My ride with Magnus Backstedt on the Tour Ride

Me (3rd from right) riding alongside Magnus Backstedt (4th from right)

One of the cool parts of my job is that I regularly get to meet pro riders. Not from a looking for signatures/pictures aspect, but more along the lines of how we can work together for something bigger. Most recently I got the chance to promote a mass participation ride – The Tour Rides – and part of this included a media preview ride. Here we would take a few members of the press along with us to try out the route of the ride. The end result would be that they write about the ride, give their experiences, and hopefully encourage fellow cyclists to take up the chance to ride a route that the pro riders will take in The Tour of Britain.

So back in mid May I arranged for a few journalists to join me on a ride of stage 5 of the 2009 Tour of Britain. This route also forms the basis for the etape-style 145km’s mass participation ride – The Prostate Cancer Charity Pro Tour Ride – that will take place on Saturday 6 May.  Now I was lucky enough to have Magnus Backstedt agree to join us on the ride. Who better to join us on the tough route other than former Paris-Roubaix winner and Tour de France stage winner.

So off we (the team at RoadCyclingUK – Richard and David, Men’s Fitness – Fitness Ed Matt Ray) went from our office in Weybridge and made our way up to Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent in our newly acquired Honda-sponsored vehicles. The day looked wet and gloomy as we made our way up, which didn’t help us for what we were about to tackle. On its own, we knew it was going to be a tough ride, but to add horrible weather was just adding to an experience that we were not looking forward to.

Once at Britannia Stadium we got changed into our gear, prepared our bikes and loaded them into our vehicles. We decided with the weather and the way it was, that we would start the ride 40km’s into the route. As we headed out, the route just rose and every turn we took, the road just went higher and higher. Not something to look forward to.

Well, there are our Honda sponsored vehicles. That's me between the two cars talking to the remarkable Graham Jones

We got to our drop location, got ourselves ready and before we set off, had a few final pics taken with our Honda-sponsored vehicles.

Then the pain started – the moment we made our way onto the route, my legs began to cry for help.  The route was totally unforgiving. Over the day, our group averaged about 15 km/h. Even though we weren’t pushing it, you could tell the route played its part.

Trying to make my way along the route (yes, I have an old bike - any willing sponsors, please come forward )

Magnus and David (from RCUK) leading the pack

I have to admit that just before reaching the all famous Gun Hill, I retired to the broom wagon. It was just too much and I didn’t have a gear any bigger than the 23-tooth chainring I had on the back to help me any further along the route.

Speaking to Backstedt following the ride on what he thinks of the route, he replied: “I think that the ‘not-a-metre-flat’ character of the course will take its toll on the pro riders by the end of Stage Five [of The Tour of Britain].”

I then preceded to ask him on what his strategy would be for this sportive in preparing for it. He responded, “Ride at your own pace. Don’t get carried away and overreact to a group pulling away from you by playing catch-up because it’s too expensive.”

“I find that three 20-minute intervals ridden as fast as you can with 30 minutes of rest in between really pushes up the strength endurance in your legs.” So there you have it, Magnus Maximus’s secret weapon.

Having our last picture taken following the ride. Magnus is holding up some of the new branding we created for the Tour Ride

So, ifyou want to experience what both Magnus and myself did, why not give his strategy a go and sign up for The Prostate Cancer Charity Pro Tour Ride taking place on 6 September in Stoke-on-Trent.

According to the Tour Rides’ website, the description for the route we rode is:

The 145km Pro Tour Ride takes in the complete Stoke-on-Trent stage of this year’s Tour of Britain, providing a unique chance for riders to test themselves over the same terrain as the professionals will do battle over during The Tour and experience the full Tour of Britain setup.

The route takes riders out of the city past Trentham Gardens and across the M6 motorway and south via Swynnerton to Eccleshall, then east towards Stone, over the same roads that featured during the closing miles of Stage Four of the 2008 Tour of Britain.

The attractive market town of Stone marks 30km into the Pro Tour Ride, which then follows the Trent Valley to Sandon before heading east and skirting Uttoxeter.

Here the route becomes more challenging, undulating constantly all the way back to Stoke-on-Trent, as it traverses the attractive countryside of the Staffordshire Moorlands and on to the main test of the route, Gun Hill, just after Tittesworth Reservoir.

It’s not quite all downhill back to the Britannia Stadium, but the main climbing is done so riders will be able to enjoy the scenery as they pass Rudyard Reservoir and cross the Churnet Valley near Cheddleton.

If you want further info and would like to check out the route and its profile, you can download it by clicking here.

I do hope you’ll sign up to take part in the ride. I’ll be there myself so drop me a note if you want to hook up. Cheers!

Video: Round 1 – Tour Series Milton Keynes

Managed to get this video loaded up on YouTube that I took at the start and finish of the Tour Series race in Milton Keynes. You can see Hayles taking Gibbs to the edge. Draw your own conclusions from this.

The Tour Series kicks off with a shove in Milton Keynes!

Rob Hayles taking line honours from Graham Briggs - photo by Michelle Rudd

The brand-new city centre race series – The Tour Series - arrived in a rush of colour and high-tempo racing in Milton Keynes last night. Run-off at an average speed of 28 miles per hour, the race was won by Candi TV – Marshalls Pasta rider Graham Briggs in a controversial last few metres that saw the Doncaster rider tussle with Olympian Rob Hayles. The finishing positions of Hayles’ first and Briggs’ second were reversed by race judges after it was decided that the Halfords-Bikehut rider impeded Briggs in the last few metres.

Now being involved with The Tour Series it has been one awesome experience something that I am looking forward to over the coming weeks. The cool thing about it too is that I now get a chance to mingle with all the teams and riders. So bookmark this page and make sure to check in for rider pics and videos.

For now I can give you a podcast with Ned Boulting, the ITV presenter that we see travelling with the riders from the Tour de France, where he gives us a post race comment from the event in Milton Keynes, including the contraversial sprint finish, team tactics and the podium girls! He’ll be posting these on a regular basis, so will get them up here for you to listen to:  Ned’s podcast!

Also, don’t forget to catch the action on ITV4 on Wednesday and Friday evenings from 7pm-8pm.

The Tour Series

As soon as I joined the team at SweetSpot, organisers of The Tour of Britain, I was introduced to a new series of racing that was soon to hit the UK – The Tour Series.

The Tour Series is a ten-round city centre cycling race series, which aims to bring unique gladiatorial and exciting professional team racing to UK city centres. Starting on the 21st May 2009, the 10 pro teams, each comprised of five cyclists will engage in combat against each other to become the overall champions of The Tour Series.

Now what makes this entire concept unique to the world of cycling is that on each night of racing, the teams will have to place their riders in the highest positions at the end of race in order to take overall honours. The race is not about the individual but rather about the team. So no point for riders to go on a solo breakaway or going for line honours, unless they know for a fact that their team mates will be the next best placed riders to cross the line.

So if you’re keen to check out the racing, it’s going to be televised on ITV4 the evening after each race. And thanks to ITV, viewers will be able to watch a whole hour’s worth of racing.

The dates for the race nights are:

21 May   – Milton Keynes

28 May   – Exeter

2 June    – Woking

4 June    – Peterborough

9 June    – Blackpool

11 June   – Southport

16 June   – Stoke-on-Trent

18 June   – Colchester

23 June   – Chester

25 June   – Southend-on-Sea

So if you’re out and about in these city’s on the day or night of racing, why not come along and check it all out. You won’t be sorry that you did.

Astana to be tainted by the doping brush thanks to Kloeden

Astana's Andreas Kloeden

A report to come out on Monday from German publication, Der Spiegel, is set to implicate German riders Andreas Kloeden and Matthias Kessler in illegal blood transfusions, citing the findings of an independent commission investigating doping.

The commission spent two years looking into doping allegations against two doctors who allegedly put a doping system into place at Freiburg University Clinic between 1995 and 2006 for the former Team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile.

Doctors Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid, fired by the university in 2007, have admitted providing and administering doping material until 1999. But the commission concluded they continued until at least 2006, Der Spiegel reported.

Kloeden who now rides for Astana and has always denied doping. Kessler is currently serving a doping ban.

Astana have just managed to get some good press on Lance being allowed to ride the Tour de France and now this little bombshell is going to hit them hard. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to it and what the future wll hold for Kloeden within the team. I’m hesitant to speculate just yet, so won’t

SnG interviewed by New Media Knowledge

Just had to make mention of the press coverage I received in digital media publication, New Media Knowledge yesterday. The article covers how the rise in popularity of cycling coincides with the growth of social networking and microblogging.  And as you already know, I enjoy writing my blog and posting my updates on Twitter. As such, I was interviewed by the publication on my thoughts about social networking in the world of cycling – “Social Networking Gets On Its Bike“.

The guys from Cycle Social are also quoted in the article. So check it out !

Want to check out the beautiful Spanish countryside on bicycle?

Well, if you would like to see the beautiful Spanish countryside while riding your trusty two-wheel steed, then head on over to CycleTourSpain.com.

CycleTourSpain.com is a free online resource for independent-minded cyclists who want to experience the beauty of Spain on two wheels but without the expense of a tour that is set in its route. Now you have the chance to arrange it the way you want it to be, by going where you want to go.

There are some great features on the different routes available to fellow cyclists, including videos of these particular routes.

Plus, there is also a podcast of yours truly being interviewed by Chris Lee, the founder of the site, about preparing for mountain riding in the heat. This is all based on my experience of when I used to race in South Africa. Check it out when you get a chance

So, why not give Spain a go this summer. And to help you prepare yourself for the trip, use CycleTourSpain.com.

A dream job

Hi peeps! Well, it’s been just on a month since my last post and although it’s not excusable, I do have a good reason for it. So here goes:

A few weeks back, on a late Tuesday afternoon, I was trawling through some cycling news sites looking for interesting bits of information. While on the BikeBiz.com site, the Job section/tab caught my attention and I thought, ‘what the hell’ and decided to see what’s being advertised.

One item that caught my eye was a job posting for a ‘Marketing and PR manager’ role at The Tour of Britain. So without hesitation, I got my CV in order, wrote a cover note and emailed it off to the organisation. So not expecting to hear back from anyone, I was extremely surprised when I got an email back within an hour of me sending mine, asking me to come in for an interview.

So to cut a long story short, after two interviews and an excited yet stressful time between each waiting for the answer I was looking for, I finally received the call with the offer to join the organisation.

Man, was I over the moon! How often does one get the opportunity to be paid to talk about the sport they love.

So, after handing in my resignation at IBM, waiting a few weeks for HR to sort themselves out, I officially joined The Tour of Britain organisation this past Thursday.

So what exactly will I be doing? Well, in short, I’m tasked with helping to promote, 1) The Tour of Britain; 2) The Tour Series; and 3) Unite ByCycling, a partnership between The Tour of Britain and the Prostate Cancer Charity.

So keep your eyes and ears open for more on these in the weeks and months to come.

Team Sky – new professional British road cycling team

BSkyB has announced the creation of a professional British road cycling team, Team Sky, to be managed by Great Britain’s Olympic performance director Dave Brailsford CBE.

Team Sky will build on the principles that make British riders a consistent success on the track and will support Sky’s work as Principal Partner of British Cycling, fuelling the sport from grass roots to elite level.

And the team will expect results. Team Sky wants to create the first British winner of the Tour de France, within five years. It also aims to inspire people of all ages and abilities to get on their bikes, through the team’s positive profile, attitude and success, and add further support to competitive cycling in Great Britain.

Team Sky will have a core of British riders, coaches and support staff and its HQ will be in Manchester, home to the GB cycling team. It will compete from the start of 2010, throughout the calendar, with the objective of gaining an invitation to the Tour de France. The race schedule will include the Tour of Britain, a chance to showcase the team on home ground.

An initial squad of around 25 riders will be recruited during the 2009 calendar year. They will be supported by a team of coaches, technicians and support staff from across the cycling world, many of whom work throughout the year with British elite and developing riders. Team Sky will now start to recruit key personnel and approach commercial partners to support the new team.

Since becoming Principal Partner of British Cycling last summer Sky has used its relationship with millions of homes to encourage families to get out and ride in order to help their health, their fitness and the environment. The Sky Sports London Freewheel in September brought more than 50,000 recreational riders together to ride traffic-free streets in the heart of London.

Sky is also working with British Cycling to develop a range of inspiring events, to make cycling fun, easy and accessible to all, which will be announced in the spring.

Does this mean that Mar Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) , Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream), and David Millar (also Garmin-Slipstream) will be bought out of their current team contracts to join this new team?

Armstrong vs. Kimmage

Am sure most of you will have seen this already, but for those of you that haven’t, you have to check it out.

In the pre-race press conference for the Tour of California, Armstrong responds to a question from Sunday Times journalist and former professional rider Paul Kimmage. I have to say after seeing this video, you can see that Paul does himself no favours and just makes himself an outcast. That said, Lance responded like a true professional. You have to admire him for keeping it together and still giving Paul a good answer.