Category: Cycling

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500th post

Just a quick note to say thank you to all my readers and for the kind emails over the last 10 months I have been injured. I have tried to keep the blog going as best I can whilst not racing or training and hopefully you have enjoyed some of the other things I have posted about and I have not whinged too much. This is my 501st posting on stodgeblog and I look forward to announcing the thousandth posting which at this rate should be in about May 2016.

The pdfs below are a snapshot of a months webstats for those who are interested in those sort of things, where people are living and what keywords are being searched on for example : washing machines ?

Analytics 1

Analytics sources

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The Cycle Show – ITV4 review

Cycling on TV is sorely lacking. ITV4 have fantastically covered cycle races from the UK tour series to The Tour this year but it’s all road racing, exciting as this is there is nothing for the enthusiast up until now…..

ITV4 and Century television have bravely embarked on an 8 show series off the back of the recent Tour de France coverage. The first episode was on Monday and it is now available on ITV player hosted by Graham Little.

It is sponsored by the giant mail order bike company Chain Reaction Cycles which to be honest is fine. A new show like this needs funding from somewhere and as long as it’s not in your face I don’t mind.

The show is modelled on a magazine ‘top gear’ style show with features, chat and regular items to keep things flowing along.

It is based in London cycle café – ‘Look Mum No Hands’ a regular haunt of mine a year or so back when Pozzoni’s London office was almost next door on Old Street.

The first show obviously started with some post Tour Bradley hype but the euphoria of the win made the café so noisy it was obvious the guests and production crew were struggling. I am sure they will sort this out on the next show.

First Guest was Nigel Mansell, now turned cyclist and supporting Team UK Youth. I’d forgotten quite how monotone he was and it’s a shame the interviewer didn’t give a little more context and introduce UK Youth a bit more. He seemed a bit shell shocked to be interviewing such a famous celeb! Graham Obree was also on the sofa. I know who he is, but any non-cycle fans would not have a clue and he was not properly introduced.

We then had a piece on Box hill, where the Olympic road race will be held next week, which was OK but I’m not sure where it was being pitched. Not enough detail for the cycle race fan and not enough background for the novice.

Next guest was the ‘inventor’ of the mountain bike, the crazy Gary Fisher who lived up to his name. Again I know who he is but he needed more of an introduction.

There was a slightly patronising how to cycle in the city bit which was actually pitched OK for beginners but tried to cover too much and was at odds with the rest of the show.

More chat with no real direction and then they finished with a great roller race between the two guests which was fun and I am sure this will turn into a top gear style star in a reasonably priced car type leader board.

Overall it was a good effort but I felt struggled with its level of pitch, they tried to cram too much in and the balance of chat to feature leant too much to the chat .

I’ve set the PVR to record the whole series and look forward to the next ones, although I hope they have taken on board some of the criticism flying around on the various social media and well used forums.

Its worth a watch – support it, help it or lose it!

http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=322052

The Cycle Show on Twitter https://twitter.com/thecycleshowtv

The Cycle Show on facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/thecycleshowtv
 

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En velo avec gâteau: patisseriecyclisme.com

A great new website for us cake loving cyclists was launched this week. Every good recreational ride should include a cafe stop and often a training ride might end up requiring one. Patisserie Cyclisme is a website that hopes to create a directory of cycle friendly cafes not just in the UK but worldwide. They are even hoping to create a kite mark for quality cake.

Why not get your favourite local haunts on… www.patisseriecyclisme.com

 

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For Sale – OnOne Inbred Singlespeed

SOLD

Due to my ongoing back problems I am selling my singlespeed. I bought it more or less new 2 years ago.

£350.00 ono – pickup available ST17, WA14 or M6 Between Stafford and Manchester
Contact me on mark@stodgell.co.uk

 

 

 

Spec
Size Medium

OnOne Inbred Light Blue 26er Steel frame  good used condition
OnOne Carbon forks
OnOne Reetardwheelset
Truvativ Firex singlespeed cranks 33 x 16
Chain tug device
Avid Juicy 3 Brakes
Kenda 2.35 x 26 Bluegroove tyres
Bar ends,RicheyComp seatpost, OnOne Saddle and Stem
OneOne Smoothie headset.
Spare original OnOne Mary handlebar.

       

 

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Guest Blog – Linus Mood 26ER VS 29ER

Linus Mood is one of the top Swedish MTBO riders who I had a few head to heads with last year and got to know well, his English (well American really) being better than some of the British riders. This winters training has really paid off and his results in 2012 have really improved. His blog is normally in swedish with a translation but I asked him to write this in English as it really interests me. I am of the opinion other than the potential for going fully rigid the current trend for 29nrs is mainly a very clever marketing exercise by the major manufacturers.  Linus’s blog is available here http://linusmood.wordpress.com/

over to Linus…….

So there’s a lot of discussion about wheel sizes for mountainbiking. World cups have been won this year on 26ers, 29ers and on the new 650b (27,5inch). Those who think that the 29er is the better bike usually claims that the larger wheels rolls better over bumps and gives better traction when climbing. The disadvantages would be that the larger wheels are heavier which makes acceleration slower. Also the overall weight of the bike is higher since wheels, tires and the fork is heavier then on a 26er. 650b is sort of in between the two and there’s not that many models out on the market yet.

 In the last year I’ve seen that more and more people are switching to 29ers and I wanted to give it a try myself, to see if I was faster on one. I decided to do a back to back test on my two testloops to see which bike’s the fastest for me. The bikes I used was these two:

26er Aluminum 1350g wheelset w/ 500g race king 2,2 (my current race bike)

29er Aluminum 1495g wheelset w/ 450g Geax barro race 2,0

Basically there’s not much weight differens between the two bikes except the wheels and tires. Also the fork on the 29er is about 100g heavier then on the 26er.

The first testloop is pretty flat with lots of twists and turns and also quite a lot of roots and stones.

29er 8:39
26er 7:38

2nd testloop has a hilly and technical section and also a flat and easy section.

29er 9:19
26er 8:46

 Conclusion: I thought the 29er would be faster on the 2nd loop since you get better traction with the 29er on the climbs. Turned out I was faster with the 26er on both. I was surprised over how big the difference it was between the bikes. Going from the 29er to the 26er it became very clear that the 26er feels a lot quicker, which is also why I was faster with it (I think). Acceleration is a lot easier and faster. Tho the 29er feels a lot smother over the bumps once you’re up to speed and it’s easier to keep the momentum over the technical stuff.

I don’t think 29ers are for everyone. I think it comes down to your riding style and what type of racing you do. If a 29er supports your weakness (climbing or technical riding) then maybe you’re faster then with one. I’ll continue to race my 26er.

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Stafford GP – Crit Race

Last Wednesday night Stafford hosted a round of the Elite Circuit Race Series. This criterium race around the town centre is tight with many 90 degree bends. It encourages breakaways and exciting racing. http://staffordgp.co.uk/

I’ve been meaning to go for the last couple of years, either as a marshal or spectator. This year I picked up Holly from swimming early and we made an evening of it.

The Stafford cycling community was out in force, with familiar faces in every direction. Eventually we settled for a position on the barriers just before the finish to get the best views of the action.

We arrived to see the end of the youth races and it was good to see so many Lichfield City Cycling Club ‘zipvit’ jerseys flying round, which has encouraged Holly to want to re-join and start their training nights again!

There was lots of pzzaz pre-start with sign on, each rider being given a union jack / BC flag to give out. To get Holly involved I managed to get Rapha Condor Sharp’s – Dean Downing’s attention and got his for Holly thinking he would be mixing it up the front and he did not disappoint. We also were supporting local Metaltech Scott http://www.metaltekscott.com rider Matt Gee. Its worth remembering that the difference in support for the various riders varies hugely: Matt turned up at the race straight from a full day’s work !

The track was still damp and slippery from rain earlier as the riders strung out from the gun behind the TV bike but immediately Graham Briggs and Rico Rogers broke away. The chasing pack stayed 10 seconds to 20 seconds behind for the whole race. At ¾ distance the heavens opened and the rain caused a number of crashes. Rapha Condor put the hammer down in the last 5 laps trying to catch but Briggs and Rogers held their lead with Briggs taking the sprint finish. All very exciting….

For more details on the remaining rounds of the series see http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/elitecircuitseries

 

 

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Cortisone injection time!

In the two weeks running up to my appointment for the lumbar spinal nerve block injection my pain just got worse and worse. I ended up off work and on a cocktail of pain killers, starting with Tramadol and Naproxen and, eventually, moving on to Temgesic, Diazepam and Amitriptyline after a couple of days when I had had no sleep at all due to the extreme pain in my right leg.

The pain was simply horrendous, constant and nagging, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. The final cocktail left me feeling spleepy and spaced but at least able to sleep. I spent the week on the sofa watching day time telly. The drugs made the television tolerable as well as the pain. I found myself getting really into a Channel Quest “How do they do it?” programme about how they make the fake logs for electric fires and told Cath all about it (several times!) when she got home from work!

Cath drove me to hospital for my injections last Saturday, and I was first up on the morning list.

Strangely, I found myself in the same room as 8 years ago when I had my sesamoid injected.

It all started so quickly and just lying on my front to start with put me in a lot of pain despite the painkillers, though, unfortunately, I didn’t think to ask for gas and air.

As the needle progressed between x-rays to get it in the right place I ended up with my mouth clamped round the pillow, a nurse lying over my shoulders holding me down and crying out in agony (me, not her!). I hope the door to the ward wasn’t open; if those to follow had heard me it would have got them very worried about what was in store for them next.

I was in a right state. I vaguely remember being shown the x-ray to confirm they had got the needle into exactly the right place, and then getting pushed out in a wheel chair. Coffee and biscuits followed, before being allowed to go home after an hour or so.

I stayed on the pain killers that night but even by the following morning the pain had gone, just disappeared like that and since Tuesday I’ve not taken so much as a paracetamol.

So what happens next? I still have a numb right shin, you could run your nail hard up it and I wouldn’t feel a thing. If I stand or walk for more than 5 minutes or so the shin starts to hurt but recovers fairly quickly once I sit down again.

My next consultant appointment is in 5 weeks….. watch this space…….