Roubaix: not what it appears to be

Most of the cycling magazines, or internet cycling sites for that matter, carry at least one piece a year about riding the Roubaix cobbles, usually as part of the sportive events that shadow the venerable Paris-Roubaix race in April.

They all use the same adjectives and hyperbole - battering, shaking, bucking, numb, bottle-bouncing, filling-rattling, equipment-destroying etc etc. And they are all right. I don't intend to repeat previous writers descriptions, other than to confirm that riding Carrefour de L'Arbre to take but one example, is deeply unpleasant, unnerving and brutal in its excruciating demands on bike, body and specifically fingers.

Take it as read then that the Roubaix pave is bumpy.....

But on my recent trip, I wanted to scratch below the surface a little, to experience not just the physical demands of the old and broken pave, but to soak up a little of the area's feel and atmosphere - that combination of factors that generates so much hype, attention and fervent adulation on race day in April.

And I found it lacking. Sure, my fingers were in pain, my legs struggled to keep on top of any decent gear to allow forward momentum and my bike felt abused by the brutality of it all. But that was it. The whole experience was curiously inert, at least once the rattling was separated out of my consciousness.

I had chosen to follow the race route and ride four sectors of tactically crucial pave from Cysoing, through Camphin and onto the Carrefour before finishing on the Gruson secteur. A race leader, or even just hopeful finisher will exit that Secteur 3 Gruson stretch with just the much easier Secteurs 2 and 1 remaining before a relieved entry into the Roubaix velodrome and the finish. And maybe this was the point - without the spectacle and intensity and tradition of the race, riding the Roubaix pave just felt like a rather unpleasant and random ride on daft roads, even with the super compliant Ti cx frame and lush 27mm pave tubulars I took over there.

The race route, I realised on tracing it out, is actually fairly contrived. It simply heads off the road for a section of ridiculous pave across the bleak farmland before rejoining a road section after a km or so and rolling onto the next one. Often it rejoins the same road a few hundred metres further up from the point at which it just left, rolling on in to the next village to repeat the process. Without the rhythm of the race, it's cumulative physical and tactical pressure, it just doesn't make sense. And the pave sections, instead of being at the heart of the whole affair, somehow feel like unnecessary intrusions into what might otherwise be a pleasant ride in gently rolling Northern French countryside.

It is then, a very different feel riding here to riding the cobbles and bergs in Flanders that make up one of the other one-day Classics monuments, the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Flanders as an area has an integrity and a character that the terrain covered by Paris-Roubaxi cannot match. The Flemish Ardennes is beautiful in itself, with nooks and crannies that simply invite you to explore them. The flat plains of this part of France have lovely little villages but not the same depth of character to the terrain. The broken and ancient pave here adds character in the context of the race, but on its own, on a rather grey midweek day, all secteurs just look all alike, relics of a bygone era in French agriculture when these still-used country lanes happened to all be cobbled. Sure on race day they come alive and provide an incredible backdrop to the racing and continue the traditions that the race has engendered over the years. But it's not enough, at least not to make a pleasantly memorable ride.

On their own, divest of fans, helicopters and the race cavalcade, the pave for me at least, didn't really provide any more than a vivid insight into the incredible demands of this one race, but did not consitute an experience that, perhaps surprisingly, I will be going back for.

Mark rode stoically on skinny 23mm tires.....

Cross and Cobbles - a Belgian road trip

Write up and bike review to come, but here is a taster of said recent trip to Flanders..

If you're Belgian....get stickered.

This is mainly of interest to Here Come the Belgians members but who knows, you may like our style so read on...


I have found a supplier for the fab 3 piece sticker set that Duncan designed a while back, specifically for Planet X Uncle John cross frames (the default frame for most of our cross riders). Cost is £16 incl p+p.

If you have a different frame, road or cross, it may or may not work - use the measurements below to see it you can adapt it.

Additionally Duncan has designed a small single Belgians sticker c 50mm x 20mm. Cost is £0.50 each incl p+p. (Red line is for cutting guide only)

The order sheet is here

Deadline for this order is Tues 31 May

Hit the North 2.5

Image: Jo 'Hanglebad'


Don't read this - read these accounts..

Dave Powell aka twinkyldave

Dave Haygarth

Organiser Jason Miles aka Mr Terrahawk

Oh and a whole hard drives worth of photos from David and Laura at Sportsunday here and here.


For the record, I rode it, and it broke both me and my bike. And I loved every slick, rutted, rocky, boggy, out-of-control, greasy, cobbled, slurried moment of it.

Jason's unique race is now an institution. And a great example of how to do things challenging, competitive, social and just plain fun all in the one package.

marshalling

Found this lovely little vid on youtube........via Molly Cameron

My Flemish isn't up to scratch yet, but think lonely marshall post, black and white Flanders images and cobbles. Plenty enough I would say?

Click to open full screen in separate window.

Romiley Floubaix

Duncan had been planning this for weeks. A collection of snatched walks with the dog, forays on motorbike and then some pioneering efforts by bike.....


Floubaix? Well, take the short sharp cobbled climbs of Flanders, add in some classic Cheshire lanes and gravel tracks (including strada bianchi) and sprinkle liberally with some ancient Roubaix-esque pave. There you have it - Floubaix.

Romiley Floubaix

Map your trip with EveryTrail

Update: here comes the link

I think we all needed a bit of soul riding this weekend - coffee, chat and chilling round this great area. Dunc led myself and Mark round the route that, despite my previous and considerable knowledge of the area, yielded some absolute gems for the connoisieur. He found us a petit Arenberg, so rough that it has claimed several of Dunc's bottle cages on recce and a full blown, arrow straight grand Arenberg that is the closest thing to Northern France's finest you will ever find in this country. Riding on Dunc's wheel down these 16th Century cobbles, seeking out the centre ridge, for a moment I glimpsed what must the nerve shredding intensity of Roubaix, dodging the holes from missing cobbles, fighting to keep the bike straight, trying to relax amongst it all.

Like my Ronde, though only around 40 miles in length, this route wears you down with cobble, gravel and lots of up and down. No big climbs, but a hard parcours nonetheless. It flows beautifully, assuming you know where you are going, making great use of the small features as well as the overall landscape. We finished with latte and carrot cake in a great cafe in Marple Bridge, watching the elegant young ladies of well-heeled Cheshire going about their ritual Saturday shopping.

Oh, and if you like checking out how the other 2% live, then there are properties all over the shop that redefine the word 'mansion'.



PS Take some fat tires with you - your bike and bum will thank you.

more ronde photos

Thanks to the dilligence of Dave Haygarth for these pics........

ronde van oost lancashire fallout

Many thanks to those 30 hardy souls who came out and volunteered themselves for our ride today - good riding, good weather and good chat. It was great to meet new faces, put faces to names and to ride with familiar suspects.

A few photos to keep things going till a full report tomorrow - my (re)hydration strategy of Belgian brews precludes anything of real substance at this moment in time.











More photos welcome - send to me or the Here Come the Belgians site herecomethebelgians at gmail.com and I'll get them up.

Cheers
Alan

Ronde van Oost Lancashire April 3rd 2010

I thought I would put my money where my mouth is, rather than just taunting our London based brethren for their honest efforts at a Hell of the North. Except this is a Ronde van Vlaanderen homage, rather than the Queen of the Classics......



Either way, it has the feel and cobbles of a Spring Classic, with some beautiful North West countryside thrown in for good measure.

Come and join us on April 3rd - all are welcome. It is fair to point out that both routes are challenging and require a reasonable degree of fitness, though the Achtervolgers group will miss out some miles and a fair amount of extra climbing from the full route without foregoing the Flandrian feel. We are running it as a 'Gentleman's and Ladies' ride and will ride together and look after each other in time honoured fashion, though I suspect there may be some action on the climbs....

Further info here:

Cue sheet

Route desciption

Disclaimer: This is a social ride, not a competitive event. All riders participate entirely at their own risk and liability.

denouement

Ooops, a couple of weeks turned into several. Writers block, losing my mojo? Or just not being in the mood....... Apologies, anyway.

The cross season for me has been a productive and engrossing one - more of which later. For now, it is only appropriate to indulge in that yearly pursuit of 'predict the Wereldkampion'.

As a (relatively) well informed watcher of the Euro scene via a constant stream of self generated DVDs, I've enjoyed this season more than previous ones. Racing has been on the whole tighter, less predicatable and not dominated by the patron Nys, more shared between some evenly matched protaganists. Nys at the top of his game is unbeatable. But his conditie hasn't been top all the time. Either deliberate, or age induced, others have been allowed in on a regular basis, so much so that he relinquished his World Cup crown to Stybar on Sunday at Hoogerheide and has not had the same crushing tally of victories as previously.

Albert was always going to thrust his prodigious talent to the fore after the Worlds triumph last January, and for a time, in the early season, I was in danger of losing interest as he looked likely to be running away with the season as a whole, courtesy of numerous definitive victories. However, the others, notably Nys and Stybar wised up or shaped up and he has not been able to ride away with impunity so often. Sure, his attacks are usually devastating, but not always conclusive of late. I have been amazed by his lack of mental strength at times - more than once a bit of bad luck or minor mechanical has had him losing the plot, most famously launching a bike at his pit crew in the middle of a tantrum. Compare that with Nys who has had some crucial crashes or mechanicals and made the best of the situation with great determination and fortitude.


Superb photos including this one can be found at www.cyclephotos.co.uk

Stybar for me, has been the most exciting rider. Sure he has not dominated in the way Albert has at times, nor Nys with his treademark late surge, but he has raced in a savvy and consistent way, picking up good placings and going for the wins when his confidence and condition came together. I love his style, all effort and commitment from gun to tape. The Belgians like him too, particularly now he speaks pretty good Flemish.......

Bart Wellens has been largely absent and hugely missed by me - some recent promising results still won't be enough to salvage a ruined season. Next year, Bart!


And to the Worlds? Here's my prediction:

Nys wins, only just, ahead of Stybar and de Knecht – dramatic last lap, Nys with one of his awesome do or die efforts gets in just ahead of a charging Stybar who has been aggressive all race.

De Knecht has been consistent all season and it pays off with a podium place. Well deserved.

Albert? Gets a bad start (again), chases up to leading group, bobbles or has minor mechanical, throws a tantrum and finishes off the podium.

There you have it.

And so to domestic matters........

A select dose of racing this season yielded some gratifying results in a couple of races and the following information, to be filed away for future seasons:

Green Michelin Mud on FMB casings rock - better grip, better handling in atrocious conditions than even a Rhino (which I still love). When, oh when, will someone bring back the Michelin tread of old. Simply the best mud tread ever.

Play with your pressure and learn to go as low as you dare. Though I dont know the true accuracy of my track pump, it was reading 20psi for the ice and 23/24psi for grassy and muddy conditions. I weigh 12 1/2 stone, but if I can go this low then you little 9 1/2 stoners definitely can. Try it. It's the future.

Cross is about skillsets - running, cornering, hurdles/obstacles and knowing when to do what and in what order. If you get my drift. Practice, practice, practice.

Run - short runs, hill runs, steady runs. Do what you fancy most, but above all do it. It works, and well.

Deep section carbon wheels are for pros or museums - braking, handling, reliability are all compromised over even an average alloy rim, let alone a good pair of alloys, particularly on the kind of rough and muddy courses we get in the NW. Maybe it is the fact that I have cheap carbon rims (not the high end wheels the pros have), but my Bontrager X Lites consistently felt better in deep mud despite what they say about carbons cutting through it. I love the bling of carbons as much as the next crossista, but my mud tires are going to be mounted on alloys next year with a sole pair of carbons for fast and dry courses. When we get them, which is like, never. Oh, and for ice which we may get more of now.......

Form your own team - I/we did it and it has been a blast from start to finish. On second thoughts, join us! We haven't graced the podium, nor won any team prizes but we've raced each other hard and done our best. We are road legal, licenced up and looking for a cross and cobble experience near you. Of course it helps if you have a talented designer type on board to design everything from team strip to stickers to beer mats to underwear. Well, not yet underwear but it is only a matter of time...



Happy Worlds watching but remember, the Classics are but a month round the corner.

a rant

I'm told by those around me that I am a pretty tolerant sort of fellow, and certainly in my line of work, running projects for homeless teenagers, there is a need for a relaxed attitude. However, I'm getting sick and tired of hearing wingeing and moaning about there being too much thick mud and the need for running during a cross race.

What is it with these people?!

Let me point out some facts:

I live and therefore mostly race cross in a region of England that has the highest rainfall of any in the country.

Cross is a winter sport. It is held as an alternative to road racing and time trialling, and now mountainbiking.

Cross has always been about natural obstacles - solid or otherwise.

Cross is held in parkland, woodland and on other soil (or sand) based mediums.

Saturday's NW League race, the Wheelbase Cross in Haslingden was unsurprising really. With a late November date after a month of torrential rain, including severe flooding events just to the north in Cumbria, in a Victorian municipal park comprising 75% grass and 25% woodland, it doesn't take a degree in hydrology, ecology, bio-diversity or any other science, to work out there is going to be a fair amount of mud generated by 140 or so riders round the course.

At this point I need to declare a certain interest in the proceedings, as on the day I was helping out friend and Peaks devotee, Dave Haygarth who was organising the race with the Wheelbase shop and team. I have seen just how much work and effort goes into organising these races. The one thing an organiser cannot do is organise the weather! Dave was pre-riding the course for weeks beforehand with me and several others, and made some last minute changes in an attempt to minimise problems when the course became completely waterlogged the Wednesday before. There was no way on earth that it was ever going to be anything but super muddy, unless people fancied a slippy crit race around the park using the tarmac paths only.

Pic: Jo Hanglebads

I would also like to offer some contructive criticism to those complaining about the level of mud clogging their bikes - pick them up! Seriously, the number of people I saw riding through really thick patches, pushing through really thick patches and generally doing their best to make the problem worse was amazing. Look after your bike during the race and it will look after you. Or do, as some of my team mates did and take a tool/scraper to unclog your cassette and frame as you go round. I enjoyed the conditions and made the best of them to finish 4th Vet (amongst National standard opposition) and 12th overall in a field that started with 120 riders. Things are coming together nicely for a foray into National Trophy racing at Bradford.

Anyway, I am getting away from my rant - whilst European racing tends to be faster and more flowing, they are not immune from weather induced bogfests as the following illustrate (thanks to Dave Haygarth for the 1st clip):





Either way, cross is and should remain a sport of varying challenges - terrain and weather induced. Running is part of cross - embrace it. You don't have to go out and run marathons on the road, just include some short, sharp runs in your training to help out for when there is no other option but to take to your feet. Your summer cycling will thank you too, due to the cross-training effect running brings. If you don't like running at any point, then stick to summer cross and the early season races. Or take up time trialling.... Just quit moaning please.

Rant over. Till the next muddy cross.

gettin' cross

I love this image from Duncan Here Come the Belgians- it's been inspiring me over the past month to do exactly that. To get out and cross, sometimes alone but mostly in company. And it has paid off. Pushing myself in the company of better riders (thanks Dave H), running through technique with others - it's all helped hone those cross skills still further.

I had the good fortune to be coached many years ago by Ian Small, a legend on the NW cross scene. Ian has been involved with cross for longer than he probably cares to remember, and still competes every weekend in the Veteran Over 70 catagory. When I got into cross, Ian was in the minute (ie 4 members) club I joined, Zodiac. He was also coaching the National Cyclocross Development Squad and kindly ran evening cross sessions in Manchester. Those group sessions were hard - warm up, stretching, runs, technique and mini races. All floodlit and often in the worst of weathers. Those sessions provided the bedrock for good technique - technique which still is hard wired today. I am not the strongest in the mud, not the best downhill, not the canniest racer, but I am as quick as most riders out there at getting on and off, and over barriers or obstacles - those basic cross skills.

One of my recent group sessions included a welcome visit to my neck of the woods by Otley Rich. Though he lives in Yorkshire we can forgive him this indiscretion. Rich is a classy rider - light, very strong and with a smooth style and extensive experience to match. He has a distinct sartorial style too. On every occasion that I can remember last year on the road when we have ridden together, he has rode away from me on the hills, pedalling serenely in a bigger gear. It gets frustrating sometimes but is nonetheless great to watch.


This season in cross races, the roles have been reversed - Rich has been close on my heels but not quite there at the finish to beat me as would be expected on previous form. Training together round my local cross circuit it became apparent to me where I was countering his greater strength and fitness - off the bike, over or around an obstacle, and then back on the bike again. With Belgian Mark, we worked together on barrier technique and on mounting, especially on uphill sections. Like many riders, Rich had a tendency to jump too high, landing slightly heavy on the saddle and losing momentum in the process. Barriers were approached a little too slow and the foot section started a little too early, rather than taking a single stride before and then over the barrier. I enjoyed thinking too about those skills - they were passed onto me and I have taken them for granted over the years. Explaining the little details and the subtle tips to others confirms my own familiarity with the technique. Doing stuff at race pace on a simulated lap or course is also essential. It is one thing to string together a beautiful coast into the barriers, set up for a single stride and mount in a flowing motion when fresh, but when your heart is up in the red zone, your vision blurred and your arms exhausted from previous laps, that smoothness becomes a real struggle. The engrams or patterns of movement that you have hard wired previously become all the more important.

I urge you then, to find a local group, get a few friends together and do some skills work. Design your own course in a local park or wood. You dont need a lot of space, just some imagination and a mindset where you aren't bothered being observed jogging alongside a bike, randomly hopping onto it and picking it up for imaginary barriers that only you can see........

As for Rich, I suspect he will be beating me soon armed with his new toolkit of techniques. But only if he blags his way nearer the front row of the starting grid like I do to ensure a quick get away...........

Team Here Come the Belgians infomercial......

Shameless plug for the Belgians here - I couldn't resist getting busy on xtranormal, a make your own movie site which conveniently has a range of accents to choose from for your characters.

Enjoy. If you can understand those Flemish accents..........

skillsets

Now the dust, or rather mud, has settled on last weekend's NW League race at Brockholes, it feels timely to visit some of the issues raised by this soon to be legendary mudbath.

Photos from the event have given some insight into the problems encountered with a very tough, saturated grass based course, overhung and surounded by trees:

Pic Dave Haygarth

However, with the express intention of starting a bit of a debate, I want to take issue with some of the comments overheard at the event, most of which can be summarised in terms of a moan about the conditions, the amount of running or getting off the bike and a general dissatisfaction about a perceived lack of riding throughout the length of the course.

I should preface this slightly and say that for my 4 year old, the complete bog near the finish was clearly too much and she exited the U12 race somewhat tearfully. Also, that the number of broken rear mechs in the Senior race was well into double figures and Stuart Reid claimed first prize in that category with not one but two Dura Ace rear mechs that met their demise. Some riders were reduced to regularly stopping and clearing out their clogged bottom brackets, brakes and forks. Clearly conditions were on the tough, nay destructive side.

This though is the point - of cross. The necessary skillset of a cross rider is in fact an incredibly varied thing. Cross is not riding fast at all times, without getting off and without encountering natural obstacles. It is not about the steady pacing strategy of a time trial, the smooth fast flow of a bunch in a road race. It is about finding an easier line, a quicker technique on or off the bike, about agility, about grinding it out sometimes.

Cross is also a winter sport. Deliberately. Whilst modern summer crosses can be great fun and useful to keep the body's memory of high intensity, cross's roots can be traced way back to the turn of the century, a time when the Tour de France was more about survival and cross was invented and practiced expressly for 'the physical education of the cyclist'. A fab article by Eugene Christophe from 1921 clearly illustrates this paradigm. Check it out for the photos by way of demonstration.

I dont want to take the discussion down some macho dead end alley, but cross is and should always be challenging. It should throw different challenges at you according to the course, it's condition and the natural or not so natural obstacles along it's duration.

Going back to Brockholes (and I will be, unlike some apparently) the course was heavy. Biblically so in places. It required a minimum of 2 runs. It clogged bikes up and those with either 2 bikes, or God forbid a crew with a jet wash, were at an advantage. But amongst all this, this particular achtervolger rode in the big ring around the entire course for the length of the race. Hardly a bottom gear grind. I did however get off and run quite a number of sections that were (just) rideable. Why? Because it was quicker, and cross is about being quicker than the riders around you. My hours of drills on and off the bike, over obstacles and during off road intervals paid off and I was able to employ the skillset I had developed over time, to it's maximum.

I like most other riders have my preference for certain types of course. I make no bones about saying this was one of them, but equally do not shy away from fast, crit style courses with the kind of tight turns and confined tracks that my 6' 5" frame copes less well with. It's still cross, and I have to be able to cope with whatever comes along. Where I struggle, I work on that weakness and as a result this year my cornering technique has been a lot better, whilst my running and speed off and then on to the bike remains a strength.

Let me know your thoughts - for me it was simply a cross race that required a strategy like any other race, and that strategy required getting off the bike several times a lap. That adaptation to conditions is why, for me, cross is so engrossing. The cleaning up afterwards though was a different matter!


On a purely observational note, I noticed a large number of 'modern' style cross bikes, quite high end models, that were simply unable to cope with the amount of mud and leaves. My trusty, rather old skool Planet X Oom Johan(s) have great clearance, slack angles even and this showed in the fact that they kept going without missing a beat. The clearances on more exotic frames have got tighter, reflecting the trend of the day and what the Euro pros are riding. This however falls a little flat without the pit crew a Euro Pro has and the access to a jet wash every lap or so. Food for thought......

Oh, and Green Michelin Muds on tub carcasses are better than Rhinos in a straight shoot out. Better cornering and less prone to clog (interestingly) when things are super sticky. The positions might be reversed in really sloppy thin mud though. Maybe.

racing line

Racing at the delightfully named Boggart Hole Clough last Sunday, I realised just how much I still had to learn about the artform that is cross. From the handlebar banging shenanigins (of which more later) at the start, to the endless chasing of brethren from Liverpool, the race provided a rich seam of experience.

Funny, as I have ridden a fair few cross races over time, but the combination of a gloriously varied and challenging track with older but wiley and strong opposition combined to put one over on me - in a way that just left me wanting more.

Former National Cross Champion and double 3 Peaks winner Nick Craig, has oft been quoted musing that cross is his favourite discipline because it is not exclusively the fittest rider that wins, but often the one that shows the most guile in the dark art of cross, rather than bike riding. I have paraphrased him somwehat, but you get my drift.

Pic: Richard Weltman

I love these North West League races - they are full of battles within battles, right the way through the field. Riders come back week after week, not hoping for a win or to be top in their age category, but to beat their nemesis from the previous week, to keep it going for a lap or two longer before being lapped by the leader or a team mate, to finish in the top half, third or whatever of the field.

And this is why I love cross - none of road racing's being dropped on the first lap and slinking back to the changing rooms rather than ride in anonymity and isolation around the course. No lonely furrow, against the clock and the inconsiderate drivers with a roundabout (for crying out loud!) to spice things up. No sir - cold hard racing from gun to tape, at our own level but in company and with encouragement.

In the end at Boggart I was undone by a crafty rider, older and wiser, though to be fair with sronger legs too. Ray provided me with a great 40 minutes entertainment once I had caught him after the melee that was the start. Attacking me up the tarmac climb every lap, I would claw him and his team mate back each time, about half a lap later. Then the process would start again, me sometimes getting away on some more technical sections to be pulled back and attacked again. If we were at the front of the race it would have been thrilling to watch - for me, positioned in the late twenty's out a of a hundred strong field, it was simply great fun. Ray's a bugger though - on catching me he would raise the pace again. It must have hurt somewhat but it sure demoralised me and made me doubt myself. He beat me fair and square, with strength of leg and character too. And I learnt some valuable lessons in the process. Cheers!

The handlebar banging was a relatively new one to me. Cross is competitive, sure. I want to improve as much as anyone else too. But for me, diving up the outside of the first bend at the start, cutting across to bang into me several times and nearly down me in the bunch inside, only to fade and go backwards half a lap later is taking things a bit far. I am to be fair a pretty meek soul, but it would be nice if riders who know they are likely to finish up mid pack or lower would let faster competitors get on with it at the start without forcing their way up and then getting in the way on the opening lap as their pace fades. There were several riders who fell into this particular category..... I was fairly well down too on this first lap but matched pace with riders in the top 15 quite happily for a while as I picked through the field.

I suspect there is the potential for some debate on this one, and given a wide field start then I have no problem with everyone for themselves. However we were gridded on a narrow tarmac climb and as an infrequent rider I have no right to the front of the grid. Neither too though have those who know they will be lapped by those around them later in the race but who still push to the couple of rows behind the front....

Let's see some some self regulation on this one to make it a better race for all. Insults, brickbats and other complaints to

crossjunkieisawhinger@crossjunkie.com

some peak performances

Yes it really is that steep!

Looking over to the Howgills from the summit of Whernside, highlighted in a patchwork of sun and shadow, it began to make sense. A little. Cramp still intruded on my brief reverie, but the moment was not lost. If riding, and what's more riding offroad is your pleasure, then riding on this long whaleback of a hill, overlooking the Lakes, Howgills and Dales, is indeed a rare treat.

Sure, there are many other wonderful places to mountainbike, or crossbike but for 1 day a year, the 3 Peaks Cyclocross allows enthusiasts a unique perspective to ride where riding is not normally allowed. To venture where previously only those on foot are granted access.

This is part of the unique flavour of the event - a one-off chance granted by the vision of one man, John Rawnsley, who has negotiated, promoted and sometimes fought to keep the race a regular fixture.

And it is a race, unashamedly so. As I prepared to dive off the flat section of the summit, down through the broken Shale and Millstone Grit bands, I was back focussing on the quickest lines, the smoothest transition from bike to foot and back to bike. Who was I racing? Whilst there were other competitors in front and behind, like most others, I had an eye on the time. My time. Unless you are right at the sharp end of the race, you are racing yourself - your potential, what has been before and what you want to come to pass. With a good time, comes a good place.

Up at the sharp end, the race was by all accounts gripping. Take one 7 time winner and World Sky Running champion, one Commonwealth and Worlds competitor in several wheeled disciplines and throw them together to fight it out against the backdrop of the Dales scenery. Race reports are to be found elsewhere but it was fascinating to see the nearly-man on so many occassions raise his game and master the discipline where he was weaker. Nick Craig can ride hard and descend with the best of them, but until now he has struggled to stay close enough to Rob Jebb when the course went uphill, as it does so brutally in places. Following a summer incorporating some good fell race results, he set about capping his losses once riding became impossible up the final climb to Penyghent, Nick's split time off the summit and down to the finish, catching Jebby in the process, was simply stunning - something which must have been hugely inspiring to watch. I met Nick a few times when racing many years ago, even buying an early version of Rock Shox off him when there were only a couple of pairs in the country. As a new pro he was kind and generous to a young, impressionable rider... He is respected and liked across the offroad community and his win will be welcomed everywhere.

One other who raised his game to new levels was Dave Haygarth. Dave too has put much of his heart and soul into this race, as rider, as team-mate, as volunteer publicist and it all came together on Sunday. Dave has enthused with me and for me over the Peaks and the fortuity of our geographical locations has allowed me to link up with him several times to ride together. The sight of the new 'white sex' shoes and matching Oakleys hurtling down the track was a boost to my flagging morale as the final ascent unwound. My climb was still a long way off being done but Dave had almost finished the descent, clearly on the ride of his life judging by the very few riders that had preceded him. Dave was rewarded with a 3:18 PB and 9th overall.

My rewards came in the form of a crash and mechanical free ride, in a respectable 4:18. Cramp though had chipped away at that golden 4 hour time, on Whernside's slopes and again on Penyghent. Next year simply has to be cramp free and faster. One day on from the race, tired and sore all over, I have already begun plotting, scheming, obsessing all over again. That is the draw that this race can have on you......

Photo: Wig Worland

man down

Bart Wellens is not so well, I hear. Diagnosed with the 'brother' of glandular fever, Cytomegalovirus, he's going to miss a chunk of the season. Still, look on the bright side - Neils Albert missed a good part of last season, came back and at the Worlds, destroyed a Euro field tired from endless racing across Flemish and Dutch veldrijd with the odd French inondable like Nommay.

I love Wellens - from the preposterous Wellens en Wee, his own weekly reality TV show, several episodes of which I have had the pleasure of viewing (!), to his karate shenanigins at Overisje, he always turns it on and then turns it up, to an adoring and beered up Vlaamse crowd (with one exception as you will see in the vid):



He's a fighter, a showman, a natural player - the foil to Sven Nys's seriousness. And the Belgians love him. Some of the Here Come the Belgians think he's great too, including myself.

Sadly there is simply no British equivalent I can think of, though Molly Cameron does her best over in the States to fly the flag of character at a cross race near you. Well, over the pond if you are in the UK. And when visiting Euroland once a year - Bravo Molly!

So enough idle and daft fan based adoration - come on Bart, get this biological nasty sorted and come roaring back to entertain us once again.

off to the races

We came, we saw and err....... we enjoyed ourselves. The Belgians were out in modest numbers at our first cross race at Pignut Hill in Team colours - Duncan, myself, Mark and Mark (The Barber).


I'd forgotten what packing up and preparing for a cross race was like - other than being reminiscent of a military campaign. It took 2 days beforehand to assemble kit, prep bikes, faff around and get some semblance of order with things. One can only hope it will get easier with subsequent races.....

I had forgotten what a friendly scene cross was. Well, not forgotten, just missed it since the end of last season. All ages, all abilities, all lumped into one vaguely homogenous group intent on enjoying the challenge of the course and the craic along the way. If cross doesn't become one of the fastest growing types of cycling within the burgeoning two wheeled culture, then I will eat my tub (an old knackered one).

As for the racing, it was intense. As you might expect from cross. Strangely though, for the first race of the season, it wasn't that lung searing battle of mind over body. I actually felt good, sharp even. Even more gratifying was my desire not to hang on, but to actually race. To bridge gaps, to attack riders around me. This was relatively new territory for me really, a blast from the past when I used to be at the head of races rather than attempting to bring a modicum of style to the mid pack. 13th overall from 85 finishers was something to settle for gladly, and confusion over whether I or an ex team-mate graced the Vet podium melted into the post-race glow that only a good hard cross race can bring. I only planned to do a few races this season, but I can feel myself getting drawn in to a few more that I hadn't planned on doing..................

team business

By way of bringing things full circle, closing the circle, drawing lose ends together and any other metaphor or cliche for getting it together if you haven't already noticed elsewhere........

Team Here Come the Belgians is here!


The slightly off the wall lovechild of a short but intense internet relationship between crossjunkie and Duncan Here Come the Belgians, the team is a response to our mutual longing for an outlet for our cross and cobble obsessions combined with a gap in the market for a team that is not a team. An anti-team in fact. Something that represents fun, connection and a practical solution to getting out and riding (and not just racing) our bikes with others. We are anything but an elite team (as those of you who have seen me ride will guess) - and we are not regionally based either, though a Northern accent helps. No, the great interweb will serve to keep our kindred spirits connected across veltrijd and kasseien. We will meet up from time to time too.........

So, aided and abetted by friends and riding colleagues with similar though undoubtedly more balanced interests, Team Here Come the Belgians is at last a proper entity, with tribal identifiers like jerseys, caps, stickers and slightly bizarrely, beer mats.


Come and see for yourself over on http://teamherecomethebelgians.blogspot.com/