Tag: cycle
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Prelude to a Tour – 2012
“Howdy!” comes the warm greeting from the cheery man in flip-flops. Alex and Rob are beaming as we rendezvous on this fine Friday afternoon. It’s the start of summer, which must mean a Tour for the Baroudeurs. Try as we may to avoid an exhausting road-trip like last year’s; wouldn’t you know it, we’re off to…
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Glen ‘CHRONOS’ Thomson
What is your name? Glen What do you do when you’re not riding a bike? Look at bikes on the internet, advise others to look at and buy bikes from the internet; this does not pay very well so as a side-line I offer young people advice and guidance What bicycles do you own and,…
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Strava Tackle
It all began so well, Big Chase (BC) leading out with me on his wheel. First lap done and we’re going strong. The Friday sun on our backs and the winds all but gone. Hello weekend. Second lap to come and we organise ourselves ready for the next jump. Shooting up the straight, we exchange…
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Alex ‘The Bear’ Hill
Name: Alex – ‘The Bear’ Do you have a cycling name? If so, who gave it to you and why? In the words of Captain Ben, ‘He’s big, he puts up a mighty chase, and the girls would let him catch them up a hill’. Age? The youngest member of the team. Generally show the ageing members how to…
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Ben ‘Captain’ Ackland
Name: Ben Ackland Do you have a cycling name? If so, who gave it to you and why? Captain, on account of my nautical beard, I assume. You’ll have to ask Lowell… What do you do when you’re not riding a bike? I’m a father and a teacher. What bicycles do you own and, importantly,…
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Lowell ‘Disco’
Cycling name? Disco Why do you ride your bike? I love the adventure and the people I meet along the way. Favourite place to ride? France. Up or down mountains? Both, in equal measure. Favourite climb? Ventoux. What song/tune/music goes through your head while riding? Climbs: “Ghosts” by Made in Heights | “Flynn Lives”…
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Robert ‘Crazy Legs’ Sargent
What’s your name? Robert Frank Sargent Do you have a cycling name? If so, who gave it to you and why? Crazy Legs. I think it was Lowell the first time he saw me ride up a hill. What do you do when you’re not riding a bike? Once a web developer, turned sailor, who is…
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Condor Bivio-X
Sparkler The Roubaix Challenge is less than a month a way and a lone Baroudeur has been invited to give it a go. Surely the Captain will be packing the quintessential arm/knee warmers combo, a wooly hat and some beefy tyres for the cobbles, but what to ride? Answer: The Condor Bivio-X. Get ‘ard as…
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On Tour – Chalet Tourmalet
From the outset this was already going to become a herculean effort; what with several people descending onto one obscure location, followed by a quick getaway to Dover and onwards by road to the Pyrenees. This was going to be tight. …she finds hilarious as we’re travelling in such a way. Fortunately, I had been…
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Riding in the shadows of Legends
space Headliners Only en velo do you get to score at Wembley, headline Glastonbury or walk on the moon. The velodrome at Herne Hill, South London is 120 years old this year and in its day was a cycling equivalent of Wembley, hosting the 1948 Olympics and cycling legends like Jacques Anquetil, Fausto Coppi and…
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The Price of a Bike
Let me explain. It’s a racing bike* It’s built from very lightweight steel, alloy or carbon fibre and is extremely stiff – through the middle, down the frame – so there’s no flex. On bikes that are not designed to go very fast, there is always flex, on all but the strongest of mountain bikes. This…
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Dixon steps up for the B boys
I think I finished in the top 20. It was really windy and you got hammered if you weren’t nestled in the bunch, even at the edge of the peleton was like trying twice as hard. The 50 minutes went quickly, especially as I had no computer and didnt know how long had elapsed. With…