NEWS ARCHIVE


Going Green
Sometimes you just get lucky and Sunday February 28th was certainly one of those days. It had been in the calendar for weeks and although everything that could be controlled was going to plan there’s one thing that is totally out of your hands (ever ...


National Champs - Cross It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop
Snowed out at the first attempt and rescheduled four weeks later on February 7th the queen event, and final showdown of the cyclocross season, returned once again to the home of the National Championships, Birmingham’s über fast and spectator friendl ...


15:1 with Trent Lowe
A former junior cross-country mountain bike world champion, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Trent Lowe may have pursued a career racing bikes on the dirt. Not so for the talented young Aussie from Melbourne. A break through year in 2005, whilst ...


Wheelbase/Cannondale Two Part Christmas Special
Legendary Soul singer Smokey Robinson nearly got it right with the release of his latest album ‘Time Flies When You’re Having Fun’. I can’t help thinking if he’d been just a little more imaginative with that well used cliché then sales could ...


Snow Patrol Headline Reading
Having spent the week in the sunny 25 degree heat of Gran Canaria, rolling along the open roads for more hours than I’m technically contracted to do in a working week, you can imagine the shock as I stepped off the plane to discover that Mr Met Offic ...


Winter Warmer
Maybe we are soft down south. The first sign of sub zero conditions and it's bags packed and enroute to the nearest airport, faster than it takes to deflate your tyres, throw the bike in a box and scrape the ice from your windscreen. Winter warmth, ...


Pride Of The South
Well it’s been a pretty reasonable first season back so far. Adjusting the outlook of racing endurance and 24hr solo events to a 60 minute hack around a water logged field is not only a rather extreme shift in what you’ve physically trained your bod ...


Wheelbase/Cannondale Top Wessex Rankings
It’s taken a few days for the points to be totted up but after nine rounds of the Wessex League things aren’t looking too shabby for the Wheelbase.co.uk/Cannondale duo currently placed 1st and 6th overall in the season long battle. Sunday December ...


Seconds Out, Round 9
In a strange way, there’s something rather satisfying knowing that whilst you’re nailing yourself to a muddy puddle (known as Oxford Community School) the best cross riders on the planet are doing exactly the same thing in Koksijde (only faster) for ...


The Birth of Cyclocross
The winter is coming, icy rain instantly freezes anything that it touches. The wind blows, it never stops, trying to tear down everything in its path. For the sane, it’s days like this that are best spent inside…hiding. Cyclists are seldom describ ...


Bicicletta Esotica
Apparently, rumour has it that, on occasions I’ve got a little carried away when it comes to building the odd custom bike. It normally starts with a simple idea before progressing into a fully fledged obsession (or is that addiction?) There, I said ...


Brothers In Black
Gauging physical exertion, the fine line between staying in the green and tipping over into the red, is a hard art to master. Crazy as it may sound, riding on the limit is a beautiful feeling. Trying to hold a metronomic cadence over every wave in ...


Ultimate by Name, Ultimate Against Nature?
It’s easy to make an assumption on the performance of a wheel based on stats alone. 1,185 grams for the pair, 40mm deep 12K woven carbon fiber rim, 20 full carbon spokes front and rear with Mavic’s Rim to Rim technology for a lighter, stiffer and st ...


Gone for a Badger
Riding for one, two, three hours plus is the same old incremental story every time. I admit, during big days (or nights) in the saddle my mind can start to wonder, and it was during such an occasion when the cyclist’s way of tracking time cam ...


15:1 with Marcel Wüst
Marcel Wüst is a former German professional road racer that has won 14 stages in the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, and a total of sixty-six career victories spread across a twelve year career (1988-2000). Following Marcel’s reti ...


Feeling Flash?
July is always a milestone month in the cycling calendar. The Tour de France may grab the attention of the world but it's Italy where the fun is really happening, just off the shores of Lake Garda to be precise. A time to check out, and most import ...


15:1 with Cadel Evans
Cadel Evans has been at the top of the professional peloton for as long as I can remember, initially ripping up the dirt to become a multiple mountain bike World Cup winner with the Volvo-Cannondale team, before switching to the road. It's rare that ...


Therapy Defined
ther-a-py [ther-uh-pee] – noun, plural 1. The treatment of disease or disorders, as by some remedial, rehabilitating, or curative process. 2. A curative power or quality. 3. The act of being dumped 200km f ...


Focus on Life
As if 700 meters of climbing per lap wasn't challenging enough. The rain fell and roots turned to ice making the course treacherous. Darkness was fast approaching, the hardest times were still to come. What would the night bring? It was impossible ...


15:1 with James Williamson
It takes a lot of physical and mental energy to ride your bike for 24 hours non stop. To some this would seem like total insanity, to others it may just be what keeps them sane and in the game. Australian James Williamson got hooked on mountain bik ...


Sometimes...
Sometimes I ride until sunset, other times until three, maybe I’m with somebody or maybe it’s just me, every ride is different and thankful we must be, but one thing that is always true, when I ride I’m free. Location: New Forest Date: May 21st ...


Giro d'Italia TTT Photo Special
The centenary edition of the Giro d' Italia begun in style on May 9th with a 20.5km Team Time Trial in Lido di Venezia. With our best showing of British riders for years it's set to be a magical three weeks of racing if stage one is anything to go b ...


Nothing or Everything?
Sometimes only a bike ride can put things in perspective. Freedom out on the road unfolds with every pedal stroke. No traffic, no cars, no cares. The warmth of the day hangs in the air as the sun sets on the horizon. An apparent nothingness lies ...


Food for Thought
Every cyclist will know that you only get out what you put in. This can be from a hard training session to the right fuel, ensuring that the body can keep working at its optimum capacity. Of course, when you go abroad you aren't necessarily able to ...


15:1 with Daniel Lloyd
British Rider, Daniel Lloyd, shows that with hard work and determination it's possible to reach your dream. Riding for the newly formed Cervelo Test Team, the season has st ...


The Ride Journal
The Ride Journal is far from your regular cycling read. A unique blend of personal stories and cycling experiences from around the world, encapsulating the passion that flows through every one of the contributors veins, wherever their love fo ...


Airbrush Addiction
I openly admit that my addiction to custom paintwork, and doing things a little differently to your regular high street find, is showing no sign of weakening. It's a good thing because I love taking an object and an idea and bringing the two togethe ...


Mountain Survival
Volatile and unpredictable weather in the mountains is not uncommon by any means. In the valley it can be idyllic, calm and warm, but higher up things can be very different, changing within minutes and leaving the un-prepared in a potentially danger ...


Are You On The Good Stuff?
So you want to ride all day everyday right? And, hopefully, you’re not into taking a cacophony of dodgy substances from the UCI’s banned list straight to the main vein. With a bit of simple nutrition you can easily get the best out of yourself du ...


Cotti on Life
I’ve thought about this for a while now and the conclusion that I continually come to is that life really is no more than a game of table football. It may sound like a flippant analogy but, just like in life, no matter how hard or fast you spin thos ...


Yellow Slippers
Imagine riding all day with the performance of a race shoe but with the comfort of your favourite pair of slippers! I've ridden in a whole host of shoes over the years, from American and Italian all the way through to the best offerings from a rathe ...


Layers of Life
Inevitably when riding in the mountains you're blessed with some amazing scenery. The serenity that is felt is worth every hard earned pedal stroke to get there. I often find myself gazing at the horizon, miles away in the distance, counting how ma ...


Smashing Pumpkins
With the weather being a little dicey in the centre of the island today, hampering photo opportunities, and in a continual bid to keep things interesting I found that by the time my ride was coming to a close I had little material for an update of th ...


Mavic Announces UK Special Service Course
Mavic announced today its first full UK Sportive support calendar. Mavic will be partnered with three of the top UK events for 2009, and will provide full support on the road with the famous yellow ...


Capture the Moment - Clear Vision
Why is it that you can be faced with exactly the same situation in life but on one day you’ll have clear vision whereas on the next things appear all the more cloudy. To climb a mountain takes physical strength whilst true mental strength is neede ...


Rhythm & Stealth
The dawn of a new season always indicates that it’s time for the winter hack to go into hibernation, whilst giving way to the birth of a new race machine. If the truth be told I don’t need any encouragement when it comes to building a new bike up. ...


Capture the Moment - Race Against the Sun
After an early start & day of travel to my adopted second home (and frequent winter retreat) I always knew that today would be a race against the sun. Location: GC500, Gran Canaria Time: 18:04 Date: February 25th '09


Keep it Clean
After six hours of snow, ice and slush riding the Scalpel was looking decidedly worse for wear. Loyal to the Nth degree is its best characteristic, wherever I point it it’ll go without so much as a murmur. So a bit of post ride TLC is the least I c ...


Chaos Town
With Southern England taking yet another hit of snow right on the chin it seems we've exceeded the tipping point on what the country can handle. With the council running out of salt for the roads and widespread havoc reported across the news. In fa ...


Before You Ask...
...it looked even better with two signature Hutchinson Scorpion tyre tracks slicing straight down the middle. Snow, silence, serenity.


Core Stability
It's funny how at the first glimpse of a few frozen water crystals falling from heaven the whole country goes into a contagious meltdown. Roads closed, public transport frozen, emergency service sirens sweep across the land as if the end of the worl ...


Chi•cane to Supersede CERA in Peloton
In the continual fight against doping, a new drug going under the name of ‘Chi•cane’ has recently been reported in the peloton. Although not on the UCI banned list, those that have come into contact with it, whose names shall remain anonymous ...


White Magic
January 10th: The oh so optimistic weather forecast was predicting that by lunchtime it would have 'warmed up'. Now I don’t mean to be negative but I hardly call -1 to 1 degree centigrade something to get excited about. At those temp ...


Feeling Tyred?
Despite being cold, normally miserable and for much of it less than inspiring, the winter does lend itself to some positives. It’s a time when parts and components are ridden in the harshest conditions they’re likely to see. Through rain, mud, road ...


Road to Mt Ventoux - Watched & Rated by Road.cc
If you're off to the Étape in 2009 then you'd do well to go prepared, because the Ventoux is a hard climb – the hardest in France, if Lance is to be believed. Road.cc take a look at Cyclefilm’s latest release, The Road to Mt Ventoux. Here’s ...


Rider of the Year
Alberto Contador may have won two grand tours in 2008 and Mark Cavendish four stages of the Tour de France, both of which are highly commendable in themselves I agree. Maybe I’m a touch biased but when it comes to selecting “Rider” of the year, what ...


What Would You Do With 40% More Power?
Question: Are you an athlete wanting to recover faster and stronger after training and racing? For Goodness Shakes! have the answer! Simply swapping your favourite post-sport drink for a bottle of For Goodness Shakes! could enable you to recover ...


Small Boys Toys
You never forget your first pair of wheels. My first memory was of a second hand Tomahawk. I think that's a baby version of a Grifter and a baby, baby version of a Chopper. 3-speed complete with broken centre gear handle that was very painful if you ...


Newsflash: C.E.R.A €0.664 Per Litre
So was there an ulterior motive for the likes of Kohl, Schumacher & Ricco to target the Canary Islands for their “winter” training? Warm weather (they said), great roads (they said), good “fuel” prices (they said). Now what do they mean by that? ...


Seasons Greetings
Wishing everyone that has supported me this season a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for helping me get the most out of myself every day (and night in some cases). Each of you played your own special part in not only getting me into some of ...