My ride up Mount Evans

On Friday 17 September, I was on my second trip to Boulder, Colorado. The first trip took place in July of this year and it reminded me so much of home. The weather and the beauty of it all. Both trips were thanks to work, but I decided to make the most of my second trip and come out a few days early than needed.

Why? Well, I was in one of the most beautiful parts of the US (IMHO) and it would be silly not see the place. And secondly, thanks to the team at Pez Cycling News and this image, I just had to had to experience what it would be like to ride up the highest paved road in North America – Mount Evans.

In preparing for my trip, the biggest thing I was deliberating was whether to take my new Basso with me, or hire a bicycle while I was out there. As I had just bought the bike, I didn’t want to risk it being man-handled by the British Airways baggage handling crew. So, this left the only option of hiring a bike while I was out there. I figured that if it was going to cost me £60+ to pay for the extra luggage needed for the bike, I could instead spend the money on a bike rental.

Still being undecided about it, my good friend James loaned me his bike box. He brought the box around and gave me the instructions on how to pack the bike. Wow, with all the additional cladding and packaging I was going to need, the hire option became the sensible answer to all of this.

Before I departed, I decided to take in stage 5 of The 2010 Tour of Britain. The stage finised in Glastonbury. On my way home after the stage, I had the privelage of spending the drive back with the director of marketing for Team Garmin Transitions. Anyway, to cut a long journey short, I was offered the chance to ride a team issue Felt as the team’s service course was based in Boulder.

So that was my trip sorted. All I had to do was get to the hotel and the bike would be waiting for me. And it was! I couldn’t believe my luck – a $6000 team issue bicycle waiting for me to ride it. A Felt F1-SL. Ths was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The following morning I loaded the bike into the car and made my way to Idaho Springs, the start location for the trip up Mt Evans. When I got there, I changed and got the bike ready. However, the tyres weren’t quite pumped up and the hand pump just wasn’t able to get the pressure up to the 10bar mark. So I took a short ride down the high street and found a little bike store – Mountain & Road Bicycle Repair. If you are ever in Idaho Springs, please drop into the store and say hello. Inside, the shop owner – Jerry – gave me a hand and helped me pump the wheels up with a proper pressure pump.

Once done, I made my way along the 29-mile ride to the summit. I am proud to say that I did make it to the summit. However, having only arrived the day before from the UK and not being used to the high altitude definitely took its toll on me that day. For example, from Summit Lake to the top (approximately 7 miles) took me just under two hours to do. I was so dizzy that I had to walk the last two miles.  But I can proudly say that I rode to the height of 14,260 feet (4,346.5m).

So, here are the pictures from my ride on that very hot day:

The view on the way up Mount Evans

Only a third of the way up at this point

So beautiful, yet so hot!

Getting closer to the top

Looking down to the entrance of Mount Evans road (it's the small lane at the bottom right hand side). 16 miles to the summit from the entrance

From the brochure that you are given at the entrance of Mount Evans road, it says that the sun is 5% stronger for every 1,000 feet of elevation gained. However, temperatures drop 3.5 – 5 degrees F (that’s just short of 1 degree C) for every 1,000 feet of elevation gained. So, it get colder as you get higher, but you do manage to get a tan. I know – I managed to get knee warmer tan lines. A very odd look when wearing shorts.

Looking up from Summit Lake. This is 7 miles from the top of Mount Evans

This is the view that inspired me to take a ride up Mt Evans

Here you can see the switchback in more detail

Team Garmin's Felt that helped me get to the top. Awesome riding machine!

The views from the other side of the mountain

Above the tree line. You can see how desolate it is up here

At the top of Mt Evans - 14,260' (4,346.5m)

Looking back down towards Summit Lake (to the left by the cloud's shadow) where my car was parked

Crest House and the highest observatory in North America

Back down at Summit Lake by the car

Driving back down towards the entrance of Mount Evans road by Echo Lake

One of the many repetitive signs on the way up and down

Tour of Britain Race Report – Stage 8: Greipel again as Albasini clinches overall win

By Peter Hodges

HTC – Columbia celebrate double success in London, as national Tour finishes on a high

The final podium at the 2010 Tour of Britain

Team HTC – Columbia celebrated winning The Tour of Britain in style as Andre Greipel took his third stage win of The Tour while Michael Albasini confirmed his overall victory to seal the Yellow Jersey presented by Bikeability.

Greipel took victory in the finishing sprint of The Tour, heading home Lucas Sebastien Haedo and Britain’s Roger Hammond in Newham to ensure that his HTC – Columbia team take four stage wins plus the overall prize from The Tour of Britain.

The Tour of Britain sprint finish in the Olympic and Paralympic Borough of Newham

In the General Classification standings, Greg Henderson used the time bonuses available at the intermediate Sprints to leapfrog Richie Porte and move into third spot overall, though at the top there was no change with Swiss rider Albasini holding onto his one minute and five second advantage over Borut Bozic of the Vacansoleil team.

Michael Albasini celebrates

Henderson also sealed victory in The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey thanks to his fourth place in the bunch sprint, while Michal Golas kept hold of the Sprints Jersey, which the Vacansoleil team added to the King of the Mountains Jersey won by Johnny Hoogerland, who immediately after the finish donated his race jersey and numbers to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Taking the honours of top British rider was Rob Partridge of Endura Racing in eighth place, two minutes thirty two second back, while Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta came sixth in the standings to take the honours as best of the five British domestic UCI Continental teams in The Tour, head of ProTour opposition like Garmin – Transitions.

Kicking off proceedings before the grand finale of The Tour of Britain was The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride, which saw cyclists and celebrities ‘UniteByCycling’ to enjoy the Newham circuit in sunny conditions to take on the challenge of Stage Eight while helping to combat prostate cancer.

Speaking at the final stage of The Tour of Britain, John Neate, Chief Executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, explains: “It was fantastic to see almost 1,000 amateur cyclists warming up the tarmac for the pros in the final stage of The Tour of Britain.  Almost 4,000 people across the UK have united behind the cause on two wheels to measure themselves against the cycling elite. We are incredibly pleased to be partnered with The Tour of Britain and we hope to build the success of these unique sportive events further next year.”

Cyclists get a further chance to ride a Tour of Britain stage on Sunday 26^th September, when The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride takes place at Stoke-on-Trent over the tough of Stage Two of The Tour.  To find out more visit www.tourride.co.uk

Racing in sunny conditions and in front of large crowds on the 12 kilometre circuit was fast from the drop of the flag, by Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales, with AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team’s Matt Brammeier being particularly active.

The Irish National Champion was soon on the attack by himself, spending the first couple of laps out front alone before he was caught by a strung out peloton.  For that move, plus his part in a later breakaway, Brammeier earned himself the day’s Honda Combativity Award for the stages’ most aggressive rider.

Brammeier was reeled in by the Sky led peloton in time for Henderson to snatch victory at the opening hot spot Sprint, moving him level on time with Porte.  Two laps later and Henderson once again headed the field as they sprinted for the line, elevating himself onto the podium at the expense of the Australian.

A more sizeable break then got away, instigated by Cervelo’s Jeremy Hunt, who circulated alone at first before being joined by Brammeier, Tom Barras, Peter Williams and Wouter Sybrandy.  The quintet worked well together to build up a 30 second lead, but with HTC – Columbia and Sky on the front of the main field working for Greipel and Henderson the advantage was never going to be maintained.

Once reeled in the peloton could set itself up for the finishing sprint, taking in one final high speed tour of Newham, London’s Olympic and Paralympic Borough before turning onto the long, straight finishing line.

Bursting through to take his third win of The Tour was Greipel, who adds victory in London to wins in Blackpool and Great Yarmouth.  Behind Haedo enjoyed another good day in the sprints, with Hammond taking third to end his home Tour on a high note.

Team HTC - Columbia celebrate their victory

Stage Eight Results

1) Andre Greipel                            Team HTC – Columbia               1h 57m 07s

2) Lucas Sebastien Haedo             Team Saxo Bank                       @ same time

3) Roger Hammond                       Cervelo Test Team                     @ same time

Honda Combativity Award Winner: Matt Brammeier       AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team

Final General Classification standings (after eight stages)

1) Michael Albasini                        Team HTC – Columbia               29h 23m 47s

2) Borut Bozic                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    @ 1m 05s

3) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  @ 1m 10s

Final Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey standings (after eight stages)

1) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  74pts

2) Borut Bozic                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    68pts

3) Koen de Kort                            Skil – Shimano                          50pts

Final King of the Mountains Jersey standings (after eight stages)

1) Johnny Hoogerland                   Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    56pts

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       45pts

3) Wout Poels                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    31pts

Final Sprints Jersey standings (after eight stages)

1) Michal Golas                             Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    34pts

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       22pts

3) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  21pts

Final Team General Classification (after eight stages)

1) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                88h 08m 02s

2) Sky Professional Cycling Team              @ 6m 15s

3) Team Saxo Bank                                   @ 24m 42s

The Tour of Britain is proud to be partnered with The Prostate Cancer Charity.  Don’t forget this September your chance to follow in the wheel tracks of the professionals and ride three stages from The Tour of Britain.  Go to www.tourride.co.uk to find out more!

Tour of Britain Race Report – Stage 5: Frapporti doesn’t look back as he solos to victory in Glastonbury

By Peter Hodges

Bradley Wiggins second, as Marco Frapporti takes solo victory in Somerset

Marco Frapporti (Colnago – CSF Inox) taking a solo victory in Glastonbury

The Tour of Britain leaves the South West of Britain tonight after two days of tough racing in Devon and Somerset with Michael Albasini still in the lead of the race, having maintained his 1 minute 28 second advantage over Richie Porte during Wednesday’s 178 kilometre stage from Tavistock to Glastonbury.

Winner on the day was Marco Frapporti of the Colnago – CSF Inox team, who broke away from his breakaway companions in the closing kilometres to win by 13 seconds from Bradley Wiggins, with the main field coming in over nine minutes in arrears.

Bradley Wiggins coming in second behind Frapporti

Frapporti was a member of a seven rider breakaway group that spent the majority of the stage out in front, escaping in the closing kilometres to ride alone into the packed Glastonbury town centre, where he crossed the line arms aloft head of Britain’s Wiggins.

“I was here to ride for Manuel Belletti, so I have been riding in support of my team,” said Frapporti.  “But when Manuel got a virus and had to stop, then today I was able to take my own chance, which I did.”

Frapporti, who hails from Gavardo in Lombardy, described his winning move in the post-race press conference.

“I attacked with ten kilometres to go with Dan Martin.  With five kilometres to go there was a false flat and I jumped then and Dan couldn’t go with me, and luckily for me I kept away.

“I didn’t even look back, because the moment you look back then you lose, so I just put my head down and went.”

With the day’s first King of the Mountains climb at Merrivale coming within the first few kilometres of racing, there was action right from the flag drop, particularly as a number of those riders looking for King of the Mountains points like Johnny Hoogerland and Richie Porte were also in overall contention, provoking a fierce chase behind.

Windy conditions on the exposed roads across Dartmoor didn’t help matters, although the dry and bright weather conditions were a marked improvement on previous days.  The wind contributed to a split in the peloton, but with Albasini and the other contenders in the front group there was no fierce drive on to distance any rivals.

After an hour of racing the day’s break formed, containing Frapporti, Lucas Sebastien Haedo, Iker Camano, Michal Golas, Pieter Ghyllebert and Daniel Martin, with Heinrich Haussler and then Wiggins joining them, with the septet quickly building an advantage thanks to the lack of threat they posed the yellow jersey.

After beginning to struggle with the pace, Haussler was first dropped and then abandoned into his Cervelo team car.  At the same time Wiggins rode away from the break crossing the King of the Mountains climb of Rosemary Hill as he was joined first by Golas and Camano before the rest of the escapees also caught up.  The steep Category One Rosemary Hill also saw Porte and Patrick Sinkewitz attack from the peloton, but a fast chase by the HTC – Columbia headed peloton reeled them both back in after the climb.

One rider who did escape the peloton was Skil – Shimano’s Ronald Van Zandbeek, with around 35 kilometres to go, however the Dutch rider spent the rest of the stage dangling between the break and the peloton, eventually crossing the line six and a half minutes in arrears.

With ten kilometres to go, Martin, one of the stars of Stage Four who admitted before the start that his legs were only just beginning to come good attacked, and was swiftly joined by Frapporti.  The duo worked well together until with five kilometres to go the Italian struck off alone, and Martin was unable to match the rise in pace.

With Martin slipping backwards to an eventual seventh, Wiggins leapt forwards and attempted to ride down Frapporti, but instead of victory only had the sight of the Colnago – CSF Inox rider crossing the line, arms aloft, 13 agonising seconds ahead of him.

“At first it was very hard, we had 15 riders with us then a group came together”, said Frapporti.  “Then we went again as four and Haussler arrived, and then Wiggins.  And then Haussler for some reason stopped.  It was hard as it kept splitting over the hills.

“The crowd were very very friendly, and very warm.  During the entire stage there were a lot of people watching and everybody was cheering and shouting so it was a very good atmosphere.

The 25-year-old also admitted to a moment’s inattention in the closing metres that almost cost him dearly, saying, “At the finish I was going too hard and I followed the motorbikes in front and almost went down the deviation, so there was fear, but it was ok.”

Frapporti becomes the eighth Italian rider to win a stage of The Tour of Britain since it’s re-birth in 2004, joining the ranks of Alessandro Petacchi and Filippo Pozzato.  Italy are statistically the most successful nation in Tour history, having now won eleven stages of the race in seven editions.

While Yellow Jersey presented by Bikeability holder Albasini held onto his race lead, his bid for overall honours has been hampered by the loss of a second teammate in consecutive days, after Tony Martin abandoned with illness.

Albasini also kept possession of The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey, although thanks to the Swiss rider’s overall race lead, Sky’s Greg Henderson will once again have the honour of wearing the blue jersey.

Once again the South West proved to be a happy hunting ground for the Vacansoleil team, as Hoogerland kept hold of the King of the Mountains jersey, reinforcing his lead along the way, while Golas took control of the Sprints competition in a battle which looks set to go right down to Stage Eight in London on Saturday.

Away from the racing, Glastonbury also The Tour of Britain remember Battle of Britain Day, with a minutes silence and the release of 70 white balloons, shaped as doves.

Stage Six sees The Tour of Britain visit Norfolk for the first time ever, with the longest stage of the race, 190 kilometres from King’s Lynn to Great Yarmouth, visiting the likes of Sandringham, Wells-next-the-sea and Norwich on its way across the county.

Stage Five Results

1) Marco Frapporti                                    Colnago – CSF Inox                  4h 16m 10s

2) Bradley Wiggins                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  @ 13s

3) Lucas Sebastien Haedo             Team Saxo Bank                       @ 32s

Honda Combativity Award Winner: Pieter Ghyllebert     AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team

General Classification standings (after five stages)

1) Michael Albasini                        Team HTC – Columbia               19h 53m 09s

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       @ 1m 28s

3) Borut Bozic                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    @ 1m 32s

The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey standings (after five stages)

1) Michael Albasini                        Team HTC – Columbia               39pts

2) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  36pts

3) Koen De Kort                            Skil – Shimano                          30pts

The King of the Mountains Jersey standings (after five stages)

1) Johnny Hoogerland                   Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    51pts

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       45pts

3) Dan Martin                                Garmin – Transitions                  32pts

The Sprints Jersey standings (after five stages)

1) Michal Golas                             Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    23pts

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       15pts

3) Matthew Hayman                       Sky Professional Cycling Team  11pts

The Tour of Britain is proud to be partnered with The Prostate Cancer Charity.  Don’t forget this September your chance to follow in the wheel tracks of the professionals and ride three stages from The Tour of Britain.  Go to www.tourride.co.uk to find out more!

Rides worth doing: The Tour Rides

For those of who have been keeping tabs on this blog would have seen that The Prostate Cancer Charity in the UK are trying to become the charity name behind cycling. Just the same as running is for breast cancer, they would like to make cycling the sport for prostate cancer. A natural association if you like.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and as a result, one man dies every hour from this horrid disease, not to mention the 35000 men that are diagnosed with it every year. So it’s not something to shy away from. But rather a disease that we need to fight against.

With that, the Charity has teamed up with The Tour of Britain to offer cyclists of all abilities the chance to ride a stage of The Tour, in The Tour Rides. Taking place in September, cyclists can try out the same routes that the pro’s get to race on in the Tour.

The same attention to detail and event planning is put into delivering a Tour Ride as staging The Tour of Britain. With extensive route signage, marshals, motorcycle support, official cars on route and neutral service, the Tour Rides offer a unique full-support experience.

Plus, there are carefully located and well stocked feed and drink stations along the route as well as hot drinks and sandwiches. I’ve been informed that this year’s Tour Rides will also incorporate timing splits and timed King of the Mountains sections (Pro Tour Ride).

The neutral service is being provided by the team at Saddleback Ltd who bring to the UK market those awesome racing machines, FELT – as currently used by the Garmin Transitions cycling team the Tour de France, as well as Lance’s groupset of choice, SRAM.

So on Tuesday 22 June, I was lucky enough to be invited by the Charity to go and try out the Stoke route of the Tour Ride. This route forms as Stage 2 of The 2010 Tour of Britain. It was a clear hot day – 22 degrees celcius. A perfect day to go out for the ride – as you will see from the pictures below. I had been looking forward to doing the ride for a whole week running up to it, especially as it was time out of the hectic schedule we were on for The Tour Series, plus I got to have my last ride on the Felt FC.

As it was a media ride, we weren’t going to do the full day’s worth of riding (ie. Pro Ride). We were only aiming to do 60+ km’s. However, we were going to take in the hilliest part of the route. Our day started off in Rocester, the home of JCB. From there we made our way to Leek taking in the stunning views of the Staffordshire Moorlands.  On the ride we took a short break in the village of Longnor, where we were welcomed with open arms by the owner of the local coffee shop called Cobbles. A true cycling fan, he offered us teas, coffees and sandwiches on the house. How could we say no to that? So if you ever in the village, make sure you stop by Cobbles.

From Longnor we made our way towards Leek, not before taking in plenty of 10% climbs and the well known, Gun Hill. I felt great at the start of the ride but the climbs were relentless and they began taking their toll. I have to say that Gun Hill was not easy at all and I can see why people gather along it when the Tour races over. There were some great downhills too (not too many of these unfortunately), but did manage to get up to speeds of 80km/h.

It was a great day out and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If you’re on the fence about whether to take part, I would urge you to go for it. Sign up for The Tour Rides, you will not be sorry. And feel good in knowing that you are also putting money to a good cause.

I would also like to say a HUGE thanks to Andrew and team at Saddleback for providing me with the Felt FC to use on the ride! I loved riding it so much, I am now looking to buy it.

And last but not least, below are pictures taken on the day of our ride. These were taken by Joolze Dymond who is also the official photographer for The Tour of Britain and The Tour Series. If you get a chance, make sure you check out her website: www.joolzedymond.com

Remember, there are three routes to choose from and three rides at each, for the exception of London, which offers only one ride. For more details on all the Rides on offer (dates, distances, etc) in The Tour Rides, check out my previous posting on The Tour Rides.

Enjoy the pics and sign up!

Starting out in Rocester where our ride began

A beautiful day to be out riding the bike

Making the most of my last day on the Felt FC

The start of many many climbs to come

Easy for some, others not

The scenery was just spectacular

Riding on roads that were virtually clear of traffic. Made for a superb day out

You can almost see the heat come off the road

Some more uphills

Working the Felt. Plus, enjoyed the SRAM groupset. Definitely a convert to its style

How can you say no to that?

Peter and Liz helping us out on the ride, a day after the Chester round of The Tour Series

Some more ups

Peter trying the typical 'fan with water bottle' you see in the Tour de France

He was loving it

...and the fact that I was getting wet

Mind you, afterwards it did feel quite refreshing

Then just for the camera decided to do a typical rider 'response' to getting wet

Maybe over doing it a little 🙂

Watch out for the BIG hand! Getting a fresh bottle from Liz

Seriously enjoying my day out on the Felt. I think I should keep it!!

And there were some downhills too

But what goes down must go up

Liz and Peter enjoying their day out of the office

Quiet roads

Coffee stop in the village of Longnor. Check out Cobbles if you are ever there

Making our way towards Gun Hill

But before we get there, a few more clims to negotiate

Boy it was hot out there

There were loads of these too - 10 per cent climbs

Doing some close ups for the Charity

Taking the mick out of Joolze who's sitting in the boot of the CRV

Suffering on the first killer section of Gun Hill

Really thankful that Paul was there to encourage me along

My legs were hurting big time

Finished the second killer section

Enjoying the fact that Gun Hill levels out towards the top

Almost there

Joolze making us sprint for the top. She loves to see us suffer

Freewheeling into Leek

Enjoying the post ride chat with Paul...

...and laugh

The Tour of Britain 2009

As some of you may or may not know, I am lucky enough to head up the marketing and PR for The Tour of Britain professional cycle race (yes, it is a full time job!). As such, I have been lucky enough to get up close with some of the world’s best at this year’s event that took place last week. A cracking event which saw some of the best racing to take place yet on British soil. Here are some of my pics from the event:

Bradley Wiggins being interviewed by the Scunthorpe Telegraph before the start of Stage 1

At the start of Stage 2:

Geoffroy Lequatre from Agritubel

Team Halfords Bikehut

Filippo Pozzato, Italian national champ riding for Team Katusha

Dan Lloyd - Cervelo Test Team

The UK's Team CandiTV - Marshalls Pasta with Malcolm Elliott and Russell Downing

In NewcastleGateshead

The Tour of Britain press office where I spent most of my time during The Tour

Then onto Scotland for the start of Stage 3

The view from the Hydro Hotel in Peebles, Scotland

One of Rabobank's many many vehicles on The Tour

The SRAM Neutral Support vehicle

Team Joker Bianchi

Team Vacansoleil

Little & Large from Team Katusha

Pozzato's Ridley - check the gold drop outs!

Mauricio Soler - former KOM Winner in the Tour de France

Ben Swift from Team Katusha

Nicolas Roche from AG2R

Edvald Boasson Hagen taking line honours on Stage 3

Stage 4 in Blackpool

Doing the typical tourist picture outside the AG2R mechanics truck

Geraint Thomas being interviewed

Ian Stannard from the ISD Neri Team

Team Joker Bianchi's racing machines

Podium Girl Becki showing off her gift from the CSF Navigare Team

The finish of stage 5 in Stoke on Trent

Some of the thousands of school kids waiting for the riders to come in at the end of Stage 5

Lauren and Becki - our podium girls

The end of Stage 6 in Bideford

Edvald Boasson Hagen's racing machine

Start of stage 7

Nicolas Roche's racing machine

Brice Feillu - stage winner in the 2009 TdF

Vladimir Karpets from Team Katusha

Kai Reus from Rabobank

Kim Kirchen

The final stage that took place in London. It must also be said that for the very first time ever in the history of London, Embankment was closed on a Saturday to a public event.

Riders lining up for the start of the final stage of The Tour of Britain

More of the riders

The Tour of Britain 2009

The different jersey leaders on the start line together

Stage 8 Combativity Award winner - Thomas De Gendt

2009 Tour of Britain Sprint Competition winner - Thomas De Gendt

2009 Tour of Britain King of the Mountain Competition winner - Thomas De Gendt

2009 Tour of Britain Champion - Edvald Boasson Hagen

De Gendt and Hagen

De Gendt and Hagen

If you’d like to see the full gallery which includes in race footage, head over to The Tour of Britain website for more.

I do have some videos from the event which I plan on getting up here within the next few days, especially now that things are a little bit quieter at work.