by Darryl Kotyk | Nov 3, 2011
Do you picture bikes or cycling when you think about the Caribbean? I’m sure sun, sand, and palm trees pop into your head a lot sooner then the idea of riding a bicycle in the Caribbean….especially on the beautiful island of Bonaire. But I’m here to tell you that bikes and Bonaire go hand in hand.
I was lucky enough to spend three years of my life living on the amazing island of St. Kitts, which is also in the Caribbean just a little north of Bonaire. It too is a great cycling island and one of the most memorable rides I’ve ever had was on it’s South East Peninsula. Many other islands should be looked at as good places to cycle as well, but I wanted to point out the fabulous Dutch island of Bonaire in this post.
Bonaire is well known as one of the best diving locations in the world, and is also highly regarded as a windsurfing and kitesurfing haven, but what about cycling? Well, here is what the people from Bonaire Bike Tours have to say about riding on their island:
The best way to experience the beauty and outdoors, meet the locals, and enjoy all Bonaire has to offer, is on a bike. See the flora and fauna, cycle past our natural history, and get exercise in our clean Caribbean air. We have challenging climbs, incredible mountain bike terrain, and miles and miles of fabulous road and off-road cycling routes.
Here are my top 5 reasons you should consider Bonaire as your next great cycling escape, holiday, or adventure:
1. Where else do you get to go cycling in a beautiful climate (consistently between 24 and 30 C / 75 and 90 F), with limited rain, and located outside the hurricane belt? I’ll bet that sounds awfully nice as the temperatures begin to drop in your home town.
2. Cycling is important enough on this island that they even have a Cycling Map available. I’ve never seen one of these for any other Caribbean island:
3. Cycle along with Donkeys and Flamingos – Bonaire has both a donkey and a flamingo sanctuary on the island….and who doesn’t like donkeys and flamingos? This is sure to be scenery that you don’t generally experience at home.
4. Learn Dutch or Papiamentu – The official language of Bonaire is Dutch, but English is widely spoken. But the native language just happens to be Papiamentu which is a mixture of many languages including Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, English, Caribbean Indian, and African. Imagine how beautiful that must sound.
5. Road and MTB Riding – Mountain Biking is probably the most popular type of cycling on Bonaire, but they do have some excellent road riding as well. There may not be a lot of options for road riding (the island is only 180 sq. km / 112 sq. miles, with only part of that with paved roads), but they do have great riding on the north end of the island that includes a small climbing optional section as well.
If you’re looking for a beautiful cycling package to get you to Bonaire to experience all the island has to offer, have a look at this Bonaire Cycling Holiday: Click here.
by Tao Geoghegan Hart | Nov 1, 2011
Me @ Revolution 33 ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
The hills around Huddersfield and Denshaw set the scene for my first ODP camp, it was a tough four days, with Mountain Bikers and Track and Road riders under one roof. By the time Track League on Manchester came around, Tuesday evening, I was shattered, in fact everyone other than Super Sam Lowe seemed to be, he dished out the pain, whilst I started the long process of hammering myself into a junior rider. The legs where falling off, although its not surprising just back from my winter break, plenty of time to get the legs going again.
After a few days of recovery, it was back up to Manchester for the first round of Revs representing Rapha Condor Sharp, I was hoping to do a good ride, infront of a packed out crowd, with my sponsors names on my chest. However today was one of those, thankfully, pretty unusual days when I felt absolutely shocking! The highlight of my night was an attack in the opening scratch race, with Luc (Luc Hall, Maxgear), however it was not to be. I put in another effort to try to lead out Jack Hoyle, my first year, sprinter – (he wont mind me saying it!) team mate, however I was pretty gassed, he pulled out a 4th, good result for a first year, but we can both do better!
Jens Mouris about to ride and win the Australian Pursuit at Revolution 33 - ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
I will be hopefully riding the next Revolution on November the 19th. The new World Road Race Champion Mark Cavendish is also riding so im sure the crowd will be even more nuts that usual! Plenty of miles to get in the legs between now and then, English Coursework to get on with tonight. One last thing, what do you reckon of me in RCS kit?!
Tao
by Anna Magrath | Oct 31, 2011
All Images ©Copyright Chris & Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
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Click SL (slideshow) or FS (fullscreen)
Last night saw the first round of the Revolution series 2011 get underway. As an enthusiastic crowd filtered into the velodrome through the National Cycling Centre‘s new vaulted reception area the riders were out on the track warming up. There was a real buzz in the air, everything felt fresh and new, the presence for the first time of the TV cameras brought an extra bit of excitement to the proceedings. ITV4 set up their pundit interview area near the finishing line with Ned Boulting and Rob Hayles readying themselves to broadcast.
Rob Hayles & Ned Boulting - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
The format and teams for this season’s Revolution really feel right, the perfect balance has been struck. The team sponsors and structures give the whole event a classic track event feel, with stylish new sponsors including Rouleur Magazine, howies Cycling Clothing, Cunga Bikes and Team UK Youth which is in it’s inaugural year, was set up by the unlikely benefactor Nigel Mansell. The team takes the name of the formula one star’s charity and they fly the flag for the work the organisation does to support over 750,000 young people. These teams were joined by the Revolution old guard of CHEP, Sky, Rapha Condor Sharp and last year’s Championship winners Maxgear.
The headliners included Sky’s Alex Dowsett (British National Time Trial Champion), Steven Burke (National Pursuit Champion), David Daniell and Frances Michael D’Almeida (World Team Sprint Champion)
Devil Scratch Race
Things got underway with the Devil. For those unfamiliar with the format of this fast paced race, there really isn’t any chance of hiding away at the back of the pack waiting to seize glory. The riders have to avoid elimination for the first part of the race with the last rider over the line being disqualified. This happens until you get down to just a handful of riders left on the track and they then fight it out for the win. Alex Dowsett, who’s had a very successful first year on the Sky Pro team, didn’t hang around and was obviously in the mood to show the long road season had been knocked out of his legs. With six or seven laps to go Alex decided to lead out from the front, he shot off the front of the pack and within a couple of laps he had the back of the peloton in sight. He didn’t quite make the catch before the finish line but to be honest I don’t think he tried to. He sat up to celebrate well before the line and the peloton was only metres ahead. The rest of the riders rolled across the line some time later led by Sam Harrison.
There was one thing that seemed different about the atmosphere as people settled in their seats and wandered around the food and bike stands, and it took me a while to realise what it was…. no Watt Bike Challenge! I’m guessing the reason being the huge amount of noise it can generate from the bikes and the spectators. The sound would be a nightmare for the ITV production team to compete with, it did make it was a lot easier to hear Hugh Porter‘s trademark catchphrases over the tannoy too which are always a joy!
DHL Future Stars Girls
One of the standout riders of the evening for me was the lovely Emily Kay. She returns this year to defend her title and she kicked off her first event of the series with an emphatic win in the DHL Future Stars Girls 5km Points Race where she scored points in every sprint for points and then still had enough for a final attack at the finishing line. Alice Barnes took a tumble in the back straight but she got up and dusted herself down to cheers of encouragement from the crowd. Second and third positions were hotly contested by Megan Boyd and Ellie Coster, both putting in great performances. This was just a taster of what was to come later in the evening from Emily though. She continued her charge on the championship jersey with a win in the Girls 6 lap dash and rounded the evening off with the Girls Scratch Race. Riders tried attacks throughout the three Girls events but Emily just stayed calm and controlled the situation. Emily does seem to be head and shoulders above the competition at the moment. She has amazing strength and tactics, an unstoppable combination. I can’t wait to see where her career goes, she’s destined for great things!
Kian Emadi winning his heat against Michael D'Almeida - Image ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
Revolution Sprint
In the sprint competition Round 1 saw Louis Oliva beaten by David Daniell and Kian Emadi proved he’s a talent to be watched as he nudged out Frenchman Thierry Jollet. Philip Hindes was beaten by Michael D’Almeida. Craig MacLean never ceases to amaze me, his experience and strength seemed to be too much for John Paul who put in a valiant effort.
Round 2 saw Craig MacLean make David Daniell work hard for his win and Kian Emadi dispatched World Sprint Champion Michael D’Almeida with an audible gasp from the spectators. I’m not even sure Kian expected that result.
In the Losers 6 Lap Dash race John Paul pushed his way past Thierry Jollet to deny the French yet again.
The Final of the sprint was a great fight between Dave Daniell – who’s obviously on form – and 19 year old Kian Emadi. They were well matched through the early stages of the race but David Daniell had the better of Kian in the second half and powered to the line by almost a bike length.
DHL Future Stars Boys
While the boys events weren’t dominated by one person there was good news for Team CHEP taking 2 wins; Jake Scott took the first of the boys events (Boys 5km Scratch Race) beating Zac May (howies) and Ollie Wood won the Boys 6 Lap Dash ahead of Adam Lewis (Cunga Bikes) and Chris Lawless (Maxgear). CHEP teammate Jake Womersley said, “The races went very well for me and my team, we came out with two wins which was brilliant, they weren’t from me but I tried to help my team mates to get where they needed to be. It was good to be in front of a large audience like that, it really motivates me to do well”.
The Future Stars Boys Scratch race went to Ryan Whatmough. Ryan rode stongly last season and it looks like he’s back to make a play for the championship. He crossed the line ahead of Matthew Cross in 2nd. Jake Ragen put in a great performance throughout the evening with 2nd place in the points race and 3rd in the Scratch race.
Russell doing his Fonzie Mexican Wave - ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
1km Madison Time Trial
Russ Downing whipped up the crowd with Alex in his trademark Fonzie Mexican wave style in preparation for the 1km Madison Time Trial. Alex Dowsett and Russell put in a good performance but in the end they didn’t do enough to get Sky a win, they came in third behind Rapha, winners Leif Lampater and Jon Mould for howies looked very focused and slick taking the win in 58.980.
Points Race – 15km
Russell Downing (Sky) dominated the Points race coming home with 24 points, 9 ahead of David O’Loughlin and Adam Duggleby. I caught up with Russell after the race,
Alex Dowsett Austrailian Pursuit - ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
“I’m loving it, good to know I’ve still got it, I love the Revolutions the crowd create a party atmosphere.”
Australian Pursuit
One of the races I love is the Australian Pursuit. This race is one you have to keep focused on as you need to keep your eyes on the riders and their team manager, who stands throughout the races and acts as their individual start and finishing line. The riders (in this case 8 of them) are evenly spaced out around the track and the object of the twelve lap race is not to be caught by riders starting behind you on the track. If a rider is caught they are immediately eliminated. The winner is the first rider back to their starting position after 12 laps. This endurance race is a great crowd pleaser but pure endurance and in this case it favoured Jens Mouris the Dutch Vacansoleil pro rider in the Rapha colours for the Revolution series. Steven Burke and Alex Dowsett came in second and third respectively.
Feature Race – Round the World Pursuit
A break from the championship came from a special event: in February 2012 Sean Conway intends to cycle solo around the world without a support team in 150 days or less to raise money for SolarAid, hoping to raise £100,000. Throughout this season’s Revolution Series there will be a number of events to help raise money for Sean’s efforts. Each Revolution Sean will take on a different challenge.
Sean Conway on his Pursuit - ©copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
For the first Revolution the challenge was a 12 lap pursuit on fully laden touring bikes. Sean would be up against Vin Coxthe current Global Bike Race record holder, this was going to be tough for both riders as the track is not the environment either of them are used to and touring bikes with panniers aren’t the ideal choice for a velodrome. Sean got off to a good start but the lead swapped a number of times with Vin Cox finally getting the better of Sean and he opened up a gap and made it stick.
After his race Sean challenged members of the audience to beat him on the rollers at his stand. For more information on Sean’s amazing adventure please visit his website and please donate www.cyclingtheearth.co.uk
Keirin (8 laps)
Back to the sprint racing and Craig MacLean got his revenge on the rest of the sprint field as he powered on to win the Keirin.
Scratch Race – 10km
The Scratch Race was the penultimate event of the evening and Rouleur ruled the event with Sam Harrison winning and teammate Tom Murray coming in 3rd. Steven Burke of Team Youth UK came 2nd.
Team Sprint – GB v France
The final crowd-pulling event was a two man international team sprint grudge match between Team GB and France. Riding for GB were John Paul and Dave Daniell and for France Michael D’Almeida and Thierry Jollet. It was a nail biter and the crowd really got behind the GB team but World Team Sprint Champion D’Almeida and teammate Jollet put in an impressive performance and crossed the line in 31.949 with Great Britain finishing in 31.971. A great ride by both teams and while it may have been a bit of a disappointment for the home team I came away smiling when the delightful Michael D’Almeida pulled up to the railings and handed me his winners bouquet… a true gent!
Future Stars Emily Kay & Ollie Wood - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
Championship
The team leading the Championship after the first round is Rouleur with 204 points. So our very own Tom Murray was on the podium I had a chat with him afterwards, “I’m trying to find my track legs still! So not at my best tonight, but a great result for the team, but always a good laugh doing Revolutions with a big crowd”. Emily Kay (Cunga Bikes) now leads the girls DHL future stars competition with 90 points and looks like she has no intention of giving up her long held crown. Ollie Wood (CHEP) leads the boys competition with 50 points. It looks like it’s going to be an excellent series so don’t leave it too late to book. The next meeting will be headlined by Sky’s Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendishwith more to be announced shortly.
Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
Watch highlights on Monday 31st October
at 7pm on ITV4 in the UK
To buy tickets or to find out more about the Revolution please click here.
Revolution Team Championship
1 Rouleur204
2 Team UK Youth 190
3 Sky Procycling 165
4 CHEP 160
5 howies 159
6 Cunga Bikes 158
7 Maxgear Racing 154
8 Rapha Condor Sharp 132
Future Stars Girls Leader
Emily Kay
Future Stars Boys Leader
Oliver Wood
by Darryl Kotyk | Oct 27, 2011
As a follow up to the first post I put up here at Cycling Shorts, I thought I’d continue along the same theme and pose another question to you all. Does a More Expensive Bike Make a Faster Cyclist?
You’re out riding, and you see a guy (or girl) on a pimped out $6,000 road bike… what’s the first thing that goes through your head? Probably a few different things (and feel free to let me know what those things are with a comment below), but one possible thought is “man, this person must be a really good cyclist to have a bike like that”.
Image ©Copyright Save a few bob
Possibly… but it could also just mean that he or she has a lot of money available to sink into a bike.
Okay, so lets flip it and put a really good cyclist on a cheap no-name road bike….what happens? A lot of discomfort, perhaps… but I’m thinking that they’re still going to kick my butt as
Image ©Copyright Trek Bicycles
There is no doubt that buying a good quality bike is worth the money and will alleviate a lifetime of unnecessary repairs and grief. But once you buy a good quality bike, what is the increased performance/amount spent graph look like?
I debate this question quite often. Maybe I use it as a way to justify the thought of me walking into a bike shop and dropping a few thousand on a bike, so that I can upgrade to a new one. Maybe it really would help with my performance. It’s a tough call. I’d be very interested in hearing your thoughts on this one.
What I do know, is that Canadians are buying less bikes, but ones of better quality. Momentum Magazine has listed that:
Companies that supply bicycles to independent Canadian bike shops have reported an increase in overall sales for 2009, but a decrease in the number of bikes sold. Combined with a 23 per cent spike in the average price of bikes that were sold to retailers, the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC) says this indicates a trend towards consumers buying higher quality bikes in the independent bike shop sector.
It looks like Canadians have got the first part right, and realize that it makes good sense to buy quality… now where are the studies showing me performance vs price? Let’s have you decide it…..does a more expensive bike improve performance and speed, or is it simply up to the rider to deliver this?
by Anna Magrath | Oct 26, 2011
It’s time to introduce our resident pro cycling coach Lee Povey, he’s here to to help you with all your coaching, training and bike set up queries, any discipline, any level from leisure to racing and general fitness. Please just drop him a line via our contacts page and he will help you avoid a cycling catastrophe, you can ask as many questions as you like… no restrictions. If certain subjects reoccur Lee will put articles together on the subjects. So why not get some insider tips without burning a hole in your pocket!
So go on… you know you want to!
Q&A’s will be posted on the website but you will get a response to your query by email. Only your basic details will be published on the website (first name & country or region).
by Nancy Arreola | Oct 25, 2011
Pan-American Games - Guadalajara - Mexico
Last week was very crazy and very intense! It was time for the PanAm Games in Mexico!!!
This track is brand new and its SUPER fast, believe me when I say it could be one of the fastest tracks in the whole world, the track is in a place with great altitude (Guadalajara, Mexico) and it’s a nice indoor track. I think it’s perfect for someone who’s planning to break a World Record.
The races were so much fun to watch, the first day Colombia broke the PanAm Record in the Team Pursuit (4.59) and they won the gold medal against the Chilean team, while the women from Venezuela won the Team Sprint against Colombia, Mexico came 3rd with a team led by the veteran Nancy Contreras.
It was good to see Njisane Phillip (Trinidad & Tobago) break the PanAm Record in the 200 metres (9.91) in the morning of the second day of competition, he’s very friendly and knows how to get the crowd going crazy. He calls himself “the black Mexican” and all the people in Mexico love him. Unfortunately, he lost in the semifinals against Hersony Gadiel Canelon from Venezuela and had to race from the bronze medal. The final podium: 1st Hersony Gadiel Canelon (VEN), 2nd Fabian Puerta (COL), 3rd Njisane Phillip (TRI)
Another great race to watch was the men’s omnium with Juan Esteban Arango from Colombia dominating the field from start to finish, he was never lower than top 5 in all six events of this tough race and won 3 events to finish with 13 points, Luis Mancilla (CHI) was 2nd with 20 points and Walter Perez (ARG) 3rd with 28pts.
Sofia Arreola Omnium - PanAms 2011 - Image Copyright Nancy Arreola
Of course my favorite event to watch was the women’s ommnium as my sister Sofia was riding for Mexico, if the crowd was going crazy with Njisane Phillip I don’t know how to describe it when Sofi was riding. The track was completely full and you could hear all the audience screaming “Sofia, Sofia, Sofia” and “si se puede, si se puede!” (its Spanish for “you can do it”). It was fantastic to be there, and it was a great experience for Sofi to be able to race this big event in her home country.
She started with the 250 flying lap and finished 4th behind Cuba, Venezuela and Canada but in the points race she was super aggressive all day and managed to get away with 10 laps to go and lapped the field at the very last moment, it was such an epic moment and the audience went wild!
After that it was time for the elimination race, Sofia was now in 2nd place in the overall standings and again gave us a great performance, she pulled at the front the whole race and at the end Angie Gonzalez from Venezuela beat her in the sprint. It was good, 3 events done and 3 to go and she was sitting in 2nd place with a good advantage.
The first event of the second day was the individual pursuit, she didn’t post a good time and finished 4th again, so the overall standings were close and Stephanie Roorda from Canada had a chance to move her from her second place so in the scratch race it was all or nothing because Sofi is not good in the 500mts so if she wanted to keep her silver medal she had to win the scratch.
The race started with many attacks but nothing that would last, the average speed was very high because everyone wanted to finish in a good position. With 6 laps to go Sofi took control of the bunch again, pulling on the front all the way to the finish and setting a very high speed. It was impressive, no one could pass her and she won the scratch as Venezuela, Cuba and Colombia finished far behind.
Sofia Arreola with her Silver medal PanAms 2011 - Image ©Copyright Nancy Arreola
Women’s omnium results: 1st Angie Gonzales (VEN), 2nd Sofia Arreola (MEX), 3rd Marlies Mejia (CUB)
This is just the start of the track season, the World Cups start next month in Astana!! It’s going to be super fun to see which riders qualify for the London Olympics because nothing is written in stone yet!
Do you picture bikes or cycling when you think about the Caribbean? I’m sure sun, sand, and palm trees pop into your head a lot sooner then the idea of riding a bicycle in the Caribbean….especially on the beautiful island of Bonaire. But I’m here to tell you that bikes and Bonaire go hand in hand.
3. Cycle along with Donkeys and Flamingos – Bonaire has both a donkey and a flamingo sanctuary on the island….and who doesn’t like donkeys and flamingos? This is sure to be scenery that you don’t generally experience at home.
5. Road and MTB Riding – Mountain Biking is probably the most popular type of cycling on Bonaire, but they do have some excellent road riding as well. There may not be a lot of options for road riding (the island is only 180 sq. km / 112 sq. miles, with only part of that with paved roads), but they do have great riding on the north end of the island that includes a small climbing optional section as well.
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