The secret of Autobiography Publishing is timing and by and large thanks to Ms Cooke’s former colleagues at British Cycling her timing has been made perfect, Future editions of this book will contain a big ‘thankyou’ for proving her right. Shortly after publication the BC squads for the World Championship were presented, without an entrant for the Female Time Trial, an Olympic event, detailing the wholesale lack of strategy employed by them, and this lack of ‘Joined Up Thinking’ becomes the main theme as Nicole scales her way to the top.
This book could really have had the more Chauceresque title of ‘A Tale of Two Millars’ as Little Nicole begins her interest in cycling as a sport after watching Robert Millar in the Alps but ends with the sad realisation that shamed drug cheat David Millar was, despite his lies and falsehoods, still holding sway in the sport, even after his unmasking, still operating in GB Team colours alongside a then in form Ms Cooke, getting better attention and help and unlike Nicole not coming up with the goods.
It is this and many other inequalities and inequities that Nicole lists throughout her career captured for the first time in print. The term ‘Autobiography’ is a smidge misleading here as the basis of this tome is a small amount of Childhood preamble which is fairly cut & paste from most riders of the pre ‘Deep section wheel/Di2/Carbon everything’ generation seeing Nicole make do and mend with ‘hand me down’ equipment, ‘money was tight but we had fun while all the other kids had better bikes etc’, before hitting the world of Pro Cycling hard at the ripe old age of 16…. Anyone looking for an in depth opening into the life of Nicole will be disappointed as once she gets into big time Cycling she enters a storyline of training, over training, more training and some racing. We are treated to many blow by blow accounts of her battles with riders all round the world which if you and I related would sound like a massive name dropping session but to Nicole it was another day at the office. This underlines the level she operated on and provides the mystery of the piece which is why British Cycling could never [despite her success] use her as a blueprint to help bring on other female British talent. The biggest giveaway is that for Nicole to break into the British squad is that she needed legal help from such a young age. The resulting Race CV generated over the next years is testimony that most of her methods were correct and should have been studied better.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of the book is the endless list of riders, especially on the Welsh cycling Union side, that are messed about and rejected. Money, not talent, is always the issue and the list of these casualties mounts as the book goes on. This is counterpointed by the all too present reality that the names behind the scenes, actually drawing a living wage are mostly the same, highlighting the double standards on quality control that exists. These rejected riders were mostly lost to the sport, showing the lack of vision these bodies and teams have, a sport cannot be sustainable if only the tiniest elite element is cared for.
Without providing too many spoilers Ms Cooke’s biggest battles are behind the scenes, off the bike tussles, with a nebulous array of Welsh Cycling Union, British Cycling and assorted team staff (sometimes a crossover of all the above), which as the book develops give rise to the concept that cycling in Britain is more than heavily male dominated and even in the Lottery cash boom time that exists; the backup of Female coaches for the talented female riders is non-existent. Some of the names listed as being obstructive will surprise, leaving you thinking, ‘What him?? I thought he was a good guy??!!’, Ms Cooke is not afraid to mention these people which underpins her reputation for honesty. To offset any negativity this provides she does however always give praise to when and where it was required throughout her career.
The book offers a few frustrations, we know how Nicole’s career ends but there is no reference to where she goes now or what she would like to do with her time. But it serves as an apt wake-up call for the cycling scene in Britain that action is still needed to bolster the female side of the sport and take advantage of a boom time for women’s sport.
Cycling Shorts gives The Breakaway by Nicole Cooke 91% earning it our Star Buy rating.
Kreis is a relatively new brand to the UK market and comes at it with the angle of offering limited run Club orders. Their designs are very modern and striking and give an opportunity to have a coordinated wardrobe for not too much money. The clothing is made for them by Kalas, a Czech company that have enabled Kreis to bring their designs to the public.
The overall emphasis from Kreis is on creating your own statement and having them help you realise it. Most of the designs are size customisable too, offering a great deal of flexibility for every shape and size of cyclist. Emphasis is placed on the ‘pre-order’ stage of purchase where the details of what you need can be tailored to you.
Kreis Echelon-Gipfel Renntrikot Jersey
The design of this jersey and indeed all the kit we had for review certainly turned heads. This jersey was of simple construction with a lycra front and sleeves, and mesh panel rear. This gave a great amount of breathability from the rear portion and the modern aero design most riders now seek. It fitted very snuggly and was comfortable in the classic cyclist tuck, without any flapping. Importantly the three rear pockets were accessible and deep enough to carry usual cyclist needs. Renntrikot has a full length zip which worked easily and gave flexibility when venting is required in warmer temperatures. In long term testing it washed well, it’s light colours remaining clean.
Our Test model was sized ‘4’. This was in modern terms a ‘race fit’ i.e. tight and was in the realm of a small/medium. As with all brands your own size and fit differ from other manufactures sizes.
The Jersey is listed at £85
Jersey: 4.5/5
Kreis Echelon-Gipfel Tragerhose Shorts
Shorts are in modern terms one of the biggest areas of discussion amongst Cyclists of all persuasions. Each contact point with the bicycle has to be perfect or your ride is going to be very short indeed. Kreis offer gender specific inserts to provide the comfort and they actually are pretty comfy. Quite a few rides gave plenty of confidence in the chamois. Fit is the secondary area of comfort for shorts, any ruffles or bagginess will soon become a problem but the Tragerhose are made of a nice weight of lycra that is soft and solid enough to help their panelled structure to fit well. The only negative for us was that the leg ‘gripper’ arrangements were baggy on our test item. This is probably down to the simple fact that the test shorts were size 5, which equates to an XL on the Kreis sizing chart. The grippers have their silicon band cleverly embedded in the fabric itself, meaning that the old fashioned ‘just above knee elastic line’ is totally eradicated. A smaller size would have given a better fit here.
The shorts are listed also at £85
Shorts: 4/5
Kreis Echelon Accessories
We also tested the Echelon Armwarmers which are made of a ‘roubaix’ (brushed lycra on reverse). These proved to be lovely and snug in cooler conditions. They have a silicon top gripper to keep them in place and were longer than most modern styles giving less chance of a chilly gap at the top. At £20 these compliment the rest of the Echelon range nicely without breaking the bank and could be worn with other clothes as they are mostly black with just a few details.
A Radlerkappe was also sent for our enjoyment, that’s a cap to you and I, and although with helmets being solely the order of the day the cap was called into service on a couple of low sun evenings to prevent dappling light affecting the eyes. There is a functional mesh panel within its structure that prevents any overheating allowing a good point of ventilation.
The hat comes in three sizes and we tried the Medium which was perfect for a ‘normal’ head. £15 buys you the perfect piece to finish your pro-rider designer look.
The Armwarmers are listed at £20 and Cap at £15
Armwarmers: 5/5
Cap: 5/5
Summary
For someone on a modest budget this range could be ideal and with a bit of input even unique to you. A lot of modern riders wish to have their own identity in a crowd and this could help them get there.
CyclingShorts.cc gives the Kreis Range 93% and a star buy rating.
Results from the final day of competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester where Jess Varnish won her fourth gold medal of the week, successfully defending her 2013 keirin title to add to the 500m time trial, sprint and team sprint titles she won earlier in the week.
Callum Skinner also enjoyed a fourth gold of the week with victory in the team sprint alongside North West region teammates Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes.
The women’s points race was won by Dame Sarah Storey and the men’s scratch title went to Oliver Wood.
Women’s Keirin
Gold: Jessica Varnish (Team V-Sprint Racing)
Silver: Dannielle Khan (Solihull CC)
Bronze: Katy Marchant (Unattached)
Men’s Team Sprint
Gold: North West (Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner)
Silver: Sportcity Velo (Jack Payne, Matthew Rotherham and Thomas Rotherham)
Bronze: Performance Cycle Coaching (Peter Mitchell, Ryan Owens and Thomas Scammell)
Women’s Points
Gold: Dame Sarah Storey (Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International)
Results from day four of competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester where Jess Varnish’s perfect week continued as she and Dannielle Khan successfully defended their team sprint title, Laura Trott took victory in the women’s scratch, Callum Skinner made it three titles in three days with his keirin win and Mark Stewart won the points race title. Lewis Oliva also took a dramatic tumble in the semi final of the Men’s Sprint against Matt Crampton, Matt did amazingly well to stay upright.
British Cycling Sprint Championships presented by FIAT – Men
Gold: Callum Skinner (The Rigmar Racers)
Silver: Matthew Crampton
Bronze: Philip Hindes (Sprint-Team)
Women’s Team Sprint
Gold: West Midlands (Dannielle Khan and Jessica Varnish) 33.969
Silver: North West A (Katy Marchant and Victoria Williamson) 34.142
Bronze: North West B (Rachel James and Helen Scott) 34.998
Women’s Scratch
Gold: Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda)
Silver: Emily Kay (Team USN)
Bronze: Danielle King (Wiggle Honda)
Men’s Points
Gold: Mark Stewart (Spokes RT)
Silver: Mark Christian (Team Raleigh-GAC)
Bronze: Jonathan Mould (NFTO Pro Cycling)
The championships conclude on Sunday 28 September. Tickets are available on the door at the National Cycling Centre. Competition starts at 10:30am with the women’s keirin, men’s team sprint, women’s points race and men’s scratch race titles being decided.
This years show runs from 26th – 28th September 2014 and has exhibits from just about every brand you have heard of in the Cycling World and then some.
There are many highlights and there has been a push this year to get some of the fresh new equipment on show for the punters to drool over.
Kim Madsen presents New XTR Di2 Gruppo
Top of this list was the Shimano stand where Kim Madsen and his team have unveiled the new XTR Di2 Groupset and have set it up on a working bike along with a 3D interactive Trainer that when wearing the magic 3D goggles allows you to actually ride in the mountains!! There will be big queues to play with this so get there early!! Kim and his team are part of Shimano’s drive to keep the fun and excitement in cycling and when you see the faces on the grown-ups testing the new kit you will see this plan’s working!!
For Weight Watchers the big draw will be Treks stand featuring the new super light Emonda range which features there lightest ever production model. The excuse that they haven’t got one in the colour you want is out the window as they have a vast range of custom options to match your team or club kit, seeing is believing but this bike is measured on how fast your jaw drops when you lift it and say ‘Wow’!!
Jules Thrasher
Bioracer have a fantastic simple stand which shows their new super safe Pixel range which reflects light the give riders visibility in poor light, ideal for winter and at the other end of the scale their much talked about Speedsuit time trial wear actually had people queuing to see what Martin and all the top testers have been using to help cheat the wind.
The exhibition is vast so take sensible shoes and enjoy the entertainment such as at 14.15 pm everyday Jules Thraser from ATG training giving a demo on how to program Shimano Di2 components, easy when you are shown well!!
Jessica Lee from Glasgow Rapide TCT set the day three afternoon session underway in the Women’s Sprint Qualifying event with a 12.796 ride. Defending Champion Jessica Varnish, last to set about qualifying, could only manage a third place with a 11.370.
It was Danielle Khan that qualified in first position posting a respectable 11.349 with Victoria Williamson second at 11.358 & Katy Marchant fourth 11.400.
1 Danielle Khan 11.349
2 Victoria Williamson 11.358
3 Jessica Varnish 11.370
4 Katy Marchant 11.400
5 Helen Scott 11.724
6 Lauren Quenby 12.308
7 Hannah Blount 12.439
8 Crystal Lane 12.508
9 Laura Clode 12.655
10 Neah Evans 12.701
11 Jessica Lee 12.796
12 Sophie Black 13.507
Danielle Khan, Victoria Williamson, Jessica Varnish, Katy Marchant, Helen Scott & Lauran Quenby ride through round one of the Women’s Sprint Event.
The Velodrome is lifted with the chorus of children enjoying an afternoon out cheering the riders as they past the home straight.
Khan, Williamson, Varnish & Marchant go through to the semi finals.
The Women’s Individual Pursuit saw World Champion Joanna Rowsell drop into third place for tonight’s finals. Both Katie Archibald & defending champion Laura Trott will go head-to-head for the Gold Medal. Rowsell will ride for Bronze Medal against Elinor Barker.
1 Katie Archibald 3:34.471
2 Laura Trott 3:34.814
3 Joanna Rowsell 3:36.593
4 Elinor Barker 3:37.876
5 Ciara Horne 3:38.196
6 Dani King 3:40.064
7 Dame Sarah Story 3:41.556
8 Anna Turvey 3:44.811
9 Amy Roberts 3:45.919
10 Emily Kay 3:49.306
11 Hayley Simmonds 3:52.269
12 Madeline Moore 3:56.341
13 Niki Kovacs 3:59.243
14 Brit Tate 4:00.363
15 Sophie Lankford 4:04.759
16 Ruth Taylor 4:05.817
17 Jennifer McAndrew 4:07.639
18 Kiera McVitty 4:10.882
19 Jessica Hill 4:12.579
Open 4000m Qualifying (NR: Chris Boardman 4.11.114)
Andrew Tennant secures his Gold Medal ride off against Steven Burke in tonight’s 4000m individual pursuit. Jon Dibben & Mark Christian will ride for the final podium place.
Para-cycling Mixed BVI Flying Start 200m Time Trial Medals
Gold – Sophie Thornhill & Rachael James
Silver – Neil Fachie & Peter Mitchell
Bronze – Laura Cluxton & Louise Haston
Women’s 3000m Pursuit Medals (Non Olympic Event)
2009 Holder: Sarah Storey 3:40.147
2010 Holder: Wendy Hovenaghel 3:31.555
2011 Holder: Joanna Rowsell
2012 Holder: Lucy Garner
2013 Holder: Laura Trott OBE
2014 Results:
Gold – Katie Archibald
Silver – Laura Trott
Bronze – Joanna Rowsell
Steven Burke trailed Andrew Tennant in this mornings qualifying by almost five seconds. Setting off at a blistering place in his ride for Gold against Tennant, at one point had him in his sights for that elusive early catch. Tennant kept his machine-like pace, and by the midway point had turned the table, with Burke now in his sights. Burke’s legs were buckling by this point, so it didn’t take much longer for Andrew Tennant, to catch, and take the Championship Jersey.
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The secret of Autobiography Publishing is timing and by and large thanks to Ms Cooke’s former colleagues at British Cycling her timing has been made perfect, Future editions of this book will contain a big ‘thankyou’ for proving her right. Shortly after publication the BC squads for the World Championship were presented, without an entrant for the Female Time Trial, an Olympic event, detailing the wholesale lack of strategy employed by them, and this lack of ‘Joined Up Thinking’ becomes the main theme as Nicole scales her way to the top.
The book offers a few frustrations, we know how Nicole’s career ends but there is no reference to where she goes now or what she would like to do with her time. But it serves as an apt wake-up call for the cycling scene in Britain that action is still needed to bolster the female side of the sport and take advantage of a boom time for women’s sport.
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