A club 10 mile time trial on the A351 near Wareham in Dorset. End of August and one of those evening TT’s where the start time had been pushed back because of fading light. And this particular night it was unseasonably cold and had been raining hard. This coach had made the journey from Bournemouth after work wondering why I was bothering and thinking of 100 reasons not to ride the TT, while listening to the best of The Jam (my mum’s car had a cassette player and the only two I had which would play in it without being chewed were this compilation of the type of angry young man music no-one makes anymore, and a copy of The Associates album Fourth Drawer Down: the type of beautifully harmonic yet darkly disjointed, complex yet ambiguous young man music no-one ever did make except Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine). When I arrived, there were three of us and a timekeeper. The timekeeper was, sensibly, talking about how dangerous the turn was at the Lychett Minster roundabout, and the poor visibility, and the poor turnout. You could virtually finish his sentence and it was tempting to do so and add “..and that’s why we’re all going to call it a night and all go home, only stopping at the Chick King take-away on the way home for an American double burger with an egg on the top of it”. However, the reason that I didn’t, and that I made the journey in the first place, was just about to ride up on a fixed wheel. We’ll call him Doug (not his real name, but “Doug” was real).
Doug was a comeback man. He to me, at that time, was very definitely a huge influence on my weak-willed approach to cycling. Doug, it has to be said, was hard. Right hard. Like bloody granite. If you are familiar with the late 80’s/early 90’s racing scene in the UK you will have heard of Wayne Randle. He’s also a certified hard man. Doug was like him. When he was riding he just had a face that was set in stone. Head down, no prisoners, totally committed and never stopped. But the difference between Doug and Wayne was age – Doug was nearly 50, Wayne in his 20’s.
Doug had been a fantastically talented young rider. His level? There used to be a famous TT in the 1960’s – the Otley CC Mountain TT. It was 50 miles over some very testing climbs (I know them well, these were the formative climbs of the Cagouled BlackCat’s youth….). I mentioned to Doug that I used to live in that area and he told me that he had ridden the event. He had, at the time, been one of two favourites to win. The other favourite was Barry Hoban. But that had been a long time ago and, like some of us, a period of working, families, drinking, smoking, and general sitting in cars and listening to tapes had intervened (not sure Doug liked either The Jam or The Associates. I’m not sure that music would have featured in his list of “things to do when not murdering everyone off my wheel”. Not sure, if I’m honest, what else might have been on the list apart from his liking of deep sea fishing trips. Personally, I can’t think of a lot worse to do with a weekend than get up at 3am in order to get on a small boat and be tossed about for hours in the cold in the hope of catching something you probably feel too sick to eat at the end of it. Saying that, if you take the motif of “suffering” as bike riders do and apply it to “hobbies they might do” then it fits nicely). Fittingly, Doug junior had taken up cycling and had, I think, gently ribbed his Dad about just how good he was on a bike…….so Doug showed him!
So…back to the 10 and Doug was sitting on the side of the road, having turned his back wheel round on the track bike with drilled front brake he always rode for club 10s (it’s only a club 10, no need for the best bike) and changed his 72″ gear for an 86″ one. He was rubbing Elliman’s Embrocation into his legs (Yeah, you try it. My Dad used to rub it on his bowling arm when he was a young cricketer. Minute 1 – lovely smell. Minute 2 – quite a bit of heat. Minute 2:30 – bit hot, this, isn’t it? Minute 3 – AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!). Legs NOT shaved, I might add. Well, only a club 10. And the timekeeper looked, nervously, at him. And the rest of us looked at the floor. I murmured, “It’s a bit slippy…I don’t mind if we….”. Someone else half-heartedly said “Maybe we should…..?” – then his voice petered out as Doug finished his ministrations and looked squarely at the timekeeper, who asked in a reed-thin voice, “What do you think, Doug?” Doug squared his jaw, stood up with his legs already beginning to steam in the wet and chilly conditions, and replied in a growl which was full of gravel and dirt, “Well if you time it, I’ll ride it”. And that was it. We all rode it. And I don’t know about the others, but the reason I rode was that I was too damn frightened not to.
My whole cycling life I have wanted to be like Doug. Truth is, I’m not hard enough. However, I have had many more comebacks than he had and have often wondered why cyclists seem to be able to do comebacks much more frequently than other people in other sports. For this post, I did what any self-respecting time-poor cyclist would do and Googled the answer to the top ten sporting comebacks. Google is the Sweetspot equivalent in cycle training terms……or maybe HIIT. Why mess about in Z2 when you can step across Z3 and 4 and do it in half the time (cue a sports science discussion…..)? Amongst the 10 are one of Armstrong’s (from cancer in 1999 – the other in 2009 is absent), Sir Steve Redgrave’s recant of his request to “shoot me if you see me near a rowing boat” at Sydney 2000, George Forman’s comeback (Boxing is the nearest sport to cycling in terms of toughness and sheer physical endurance, I have always felt. Based on my hardness score in the latter I wouldn’t be as good as my Dad at the former…..maybe the Ellimans toughened him up before the Navy?), and one I added myself: Michael Schumacher getting a drive for Mercedes in 2010 and being as superbly imperious as he always was. And having a couple more “racing incidents”.
Runners don’t seem to do comebacks. Or do they? Cyclists may well be able to because of the weight-bearing nature of riding a bike. Look around a club run here or abroad and you will see the elderly cyclist (The Italians do this much better than we do, this “ageing” bit. They manage to harness the sartorial elegance of Francesco Moser in his white jersey and immaculate shoes even with a paunch and crows feet around their eyes) . They may well rip your legs off too! A recent study which examined the effects of ageing on a professional cyclist featured 5 times Tour de France winner and all-round extra-terrestrial Miguel Indurain. Miguel retired in 1997 and has been just riding for pleasure since then but his maximal aerobic power was still around 450 watts. His watts per kilo (7 is Tour winner, 6 a gateway to Elite level, usually) was in the “4’s” but only because his weight had gone up significantly, rather than his power going down significantly (The study states “Larger declines in maximal and submaximal values relative to body mass (19.4-26.1%) indicate that body composition changed more than aerobic characteristics”) . That aside, he would have had to put out 450 watts plus for his successful hour record on the track back in the early 90’s – to produce 450 watts for the final minute of a RAMP test is one thing: to produce the same for an hour is quite another…but the message remains that your natural ability remains, even if your sizing in trousers varies as a result of trips to the Chick King take away in your car, tape player blaring out “Billy Hunt”.
Comebacks are definitely part of the culture in cycling. The best example? Lance’s 2009? Try Malcolm Elliot in the early 2000’s. One of the most incredibly naturally talented riders we have ever produced: Milk Race winner, Tour of Britain winner, Tour of Spain points jersey winner…….just a fantastic all-round rider. I remember reading an article in “The Comic” about Elliot, a couple of years before he made a successful comeback into Elite cycling. The author of the article knew Elliot well and said that he was simply the most naturally talented rider we have had and, were he to choose to cock his leg over a bike tomorrow, he would be winning the major domestic races in the UK within a year. He did, and he was.
So. Has the temptation of the American Double Egg Burger usurped the Spartan and stoic pursuit of Elliman’s Embro self-massage and deep sea fishing trips in winter? Have you found yourself at a club 10 uttering “No, I think it’s too wet and cold. Where’s my car? And my tapes? You’re all mad and your legs are starting to give me a sunburn”? Then the comeback is for you…….
Take inspiration from BlackCat rider Paul Winkley (East Grinstead CC). Paul has been there, done that and got the t-shirt. Paul enjoyed road racing and contacted me because he wants to get back into it. He turns a nifty pedal and, when he RAMP tested with me, showed he still has it: particularly when he demonstrated in his 95% warm up 6 second sprints (You don’t do them? Wakes up the fast twitch fibres…) that he can still get near 1000w in Wattbike Pro resistance level 1 (the lowest….). Crucially, after we had a cup of tea and a “nice sit down” after the test, his legs didn’t give me a sunburn from the embro. Or, for that matter, make an orange stain on my leather sofa. Here is Paul’s story…
Making a comeback
“I’ve been cycling competitively since I was about 15, with a short break between 18 and 35 to discover cars and girls – I’m now 57. Following a bad crash at Goodwood 4 years ago and losing my business in the recession, my cycle training was taking a bit of a back seat. I still get out on the clubrun each week and do all of my Club’s evening 10’s so, I’m in reasonable shape but no ‘racing snake’.
I know how to train having been coached over the internet for a few years previously. The trouble was motivating myself to go out to the garage when its sub zero to do intervals on the turbo trainer, never happens – I’m a little tired – there’s something on the telly – think I’m going down with a cold , you know the excuses! Step up Tim!
I just need someone to keep me on the ‘straight and narrow’ and apply some new training methods. I’d recommend a Ramp Test before you start, which is nothing to be frightened of. It sets some proper values and sorts out a few other basics such as pedalling style, individual leg strength and watts per kg.
So here we are week 4 – the 1st week was bit of a shock to the system but settling in nicely now and gaining in confidence. I’m ‘up a cog’ already on the turbo and giving a few club mates something to think about on Sunday rides.
One final thing – I run my own print business, have five children, five grandchildren and am a presenter on our local radio station so don’t tell me you don’t have the time!”
Paul Winkley
A busy man…..and proof that a lack of time shouldn’t hinder your pursuit of what you enjoy. Paul enjoys music and has a show on 107FM Meridian Radio – here he is doing what he loves to help others http://www.meridianfm.com/home/107-miles-to-go.html
You could do a lot worse than tune in to him. Each week Paul emails his feedback along with a list of turbo tracks….he has some very good tunes and is the only person I know who shares my liking for the odd Jethro Tull number.
So. Been out of cycling a while? Want to dish it out again? It’s never too late. Time to get the bike out of the shed and start training for 2014. Want some help?
Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a super-fast Boxing Day 10! Hey, and if it’s snowing, you time it…………
(This post dedicated to “Doug” and Ann and the cyclist’s teapot, and many a happy evening in the “sun lounge”. )
theblackcatscyclingwhiskers 