The new 2012 range from Lake Cycling

The new customisable Lake CX401

My friend Martin, from Todays Cyclist, popped around the other day for a cup of coffee and a chat. He’s a great guy and it’s always good to see him. While here he showed me the new 2012 range of Lake Cycling shoes that he had in his bag of goods.

Lake CX401

The first pair he had to show me was the new customisable CX401. These are the top range of shoes available from Lake. As you can see from the picture above and below, these shoes just look awesome. But it doesn’t stop there. Its features include:

225 Photos of Sexy Girls Riding Bicycles

This past week my dear brother sent me a link to site that contains ‘225 photos of sexy girls riding bicycles‘.  Although there a lot of images from new photography site TheFIXFIXFIX, there are also a host of old and new images of girls on bikes. Including celebrities such as Katy Perry, Heather Graham, Kate Moss, Cheryl Cole, Zooey Deschenal, Monica Bellucci, Kelly Brook and Heather Graham to name but a few. Even cycling’s very own Liz Hatch makes an appearance.

There aren’t too many images of girls on road bikes, but those that like cycle chic and fixed wheels will be pleasantly surprised by what you will see here. Here’s a sample of what you may see on the site:

Epic Ride: Taking to the Three Counties Cycle Ride

Satisfaction after taking on the Three Counties

Read my latest Epic Ride for the team at NeilPryde Bikes. Here is a little taster of what I’ve written:

Realising we have a mammoth challenge ahead we decided it was time to get some training in and get the legs and body ready for what was to come. The first ride we were going to take on was the Three Counties Cycle Ride.

To read more about it and Duckingham Palace, make sure to click here.

Thanks!

Epic Ride: Amsterdam 300 Challenge – Part 2

Cheers!

Hope you enjoyed my first ride report for the inaugural Amsterdam 300 put on by the awesome UK-based charity for disabled people, Scope. To complete the reports, here is my second epic ride report which can be seen on the NeilPryde Bikes website.

But before I sign off on this post, I need to say a HUGE THANKS to the following companies who supported me during my training and the actual ride. They are: NeilPryde Bikes (bicycle), Sport and Speed (clothing), Todays Cyclist (lights) and CNP Professional (food and drinks).

And if you like videos, here is my video diary for the final day of the ride:

Epic Ride: Amsterdam 300 Challenge – Part 1

Beautiful canal in Belgium

Hi all – it’s been a while since my last posting here on my blog but as you will see, I have been rather busy doing some crazy miles and rides. The craziest of which is a ride I’ve just recently completed – the Amsterdam 300. I’ve written up a ride report which, as per my last report, is available to see online at the NeilPryde Bikes website. To give you a taster of what I went through on the first day, here is my video diary:

Make sure you check out the ride report too –
http://www.neilprydebikes.com/usd/news/amsterdam-300-challenge-part-1

Enjoy!

Epic Ride: Ride It! In Chieveley, UK

Taking a ride around Chieveley in Berkshire

Back in November of last year you may recall I became a NeilPryde Epic Rider. The main point of the team is for the riders to provide feedback 0n the bikes but also to provide NeilPryde Bikes with rides that we would consider epic. This is so that we could inspire more and more people to get on their bikes and go and try out these routes we were taking on.

I filed my first Epic Ride report with the team at NeilPryde and here is a snippet of what I wrote:

I first heard of the Ride It! events when it was launched in the Spring of 2008. The event series was designed to ‘cater for both mountain and road bikers in a non-competitive environment, with an emphasis on having fun with other riders’. So when I heard the event was coming to West Berkshire, I …

Now to get the rest of my ride report, make sure you head over to the NeilPryde Bikes website and see what I have to say. And if you like it, please feel free to share it with your friends and family.

Thanks!

New Tour de France kit for Team Garmin-Cervélo

Team Garmin-Cervélo lightens up with a new Tour de France kit

Slipstream Sports, today unveiled its limited edition team kit for the 2011 Tour de France, created by its innovative Italian clothing partner, Castelli.

The new jersey and shorts retain the distinctive Garmin and Cervélo logos, but reverse white with black on the jersey. The signature Slipstream Sports argyle is prominently displayed.

“We’re really excited about the Tour de France kit,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports and Director Sportif, Team Garmin-Cervélo. “The lighter color is perfect for hot weather and our signature argyle is more prominent.”

This is the third time Castelli have introduced new clothing at the Tour de France. “We consider the Tour de France a very special event that deserves a special design,” said Steve Smith, Castelli Brand Manager.

“This team is rider-centric, and Castelli has done its part to make sure the riders have the most comfortable and technically advanced clothing for this big event. Racing in hot weather is physically demanding, that’s a given, and despite the fact that Castelli makes some of the lightest and coolest fabrics in existence, wearing a lighter colour will make a big difference, both psychologically and physically, to a rider’s well being,” explained Steve Smith.

The limited edition Tour de France kit will be available in early July at Castelli dealers and from the team store.

In addition to the new color, the Castelli Speed Research Unit has been busy making sure it’s the fastest gear in the peloton. With new innovative thinking, fifteen rounds of sampling and numerous tests later, the Castelli Speed Research Unit and has invented the first skinsuit for road racing.

And, working with Robby Ketchell, Director of Sport Science for Slipstream Sports, Castelli created a nearly seamless Body Paint TT Speedsuit to cut through the wind better than almost any other suit ever created. For the mountain stages, the riders will be supplied with an unbelievably lightweight jersey that virtually absorb no moisture so the weight savings multiply in the most extreme conditions.

Review: NeilPryde Alize

NeilPryde Alize

For those who read my blog regularly will know that at the end of 2010 I became a NeilPryde Epic rider. What this meant was I could choose which NeilPryde bike to ride – Diablo or Alize – and then spend the next 12 months riding it, with the purpose of writing about it for the NeilPryde website. So for the past eight months I have been riding the Diablo and have loved every minute of it. An extremely stiff and aggressive bike that keeps wanting more from its rider.

At the start of last week, I took my Diablo in for a service at the local bike shop. Unfortunately I don’t have the specific tools required by Shimano to service its products, otherwise I would have completed the service myself. I had a ride on Sunday so six-days would be more than enough to get it serviced. Well, so I thought. Turns out they hadn’t even started on the service yet.

Not worrying too much about it as I have my Basso at home that I could ride, I let it be. So on Friday I was exchanging a few emails with Scott, the UK agent for NeilPryde, and we were talking about the weekend’s upcoming ride. I told him about the situation to which Scott then suggested I ride the Alize. Jumping at the chance to ride it we arranged to meet up the following day.

Johnson Health Tech Women’s Grand Prix Series – Final Round – Woking

Johnson Health Tech Series winner Helen Wyman (photo credit: Tour Series/VeloUK)

Helen Wyman crowned in Woking

Victory for Lucy Garner isn’t enough to overall Wyman at top of inaugural Johnson Health Tech Women’s Grand Prix Series standings

Sixteen-year-old Lucy Garner sprinted to victory in Woking in the final round of the Johnson Health Tech Women’s Grand Prix Series, but the win wasn’t enough to overhaul Series leader Helen Wyman, who took the title and the final leader’s white jersey by just three points.

Wyman came fourth on the night, behind the podium of Garner, Hannah Rich and Hannah Barnes, with the latter taking a narrow victory in the Series Sprints competition on count back.

With team, individual and sprint standings still at stake, the final round of the Johnson Health Tech Women’s Grand Prix Series was a controlled affair, with no riders managing to escape the main field for any prolonged period.

A consistent pace throughout meant that the favourites remained bunched together in the front group throughout, which gradually thinned out as the race progressed.

Prominent early on in proceedings was Tamina Oliver of VC Squadra Donne, making her Series debut and immediately get into the thick of the action and taking the honours at the opening intermediate sprint of the evening.

Sweat ‘n Gears appears on Tour Series broadcast by ITV4

Spotted in the background sporting my Rudy Projects during the Stoke round of the Tour Series

For those of you who were watching the Tour Series on ITV4 on Wednesday evening, you may have spotted me in the background halfway through the broadcast while Marcel Six of Team Twenty3c-Orbea was being interviewed.  Now some say I looked like a nightclub bouncer (thanks Ian), but I think I looked quite dashing, sporting my Rudy Project Rydon.

So, if you agree and want to look just as good with your own pair of Rudy Project’s, make sure you check out Sport and Speed.

And if you missed the programme from Wednesday evening, you can watch it again through the ITV Player by clicking here.