This weekend marks four weeks until the return of the legendary Milk Race event to Nottingham City Centre on Sunday 25 May.
Following the successful resurrection of the event in 2013, a number of elite cyclists have entered this year’s races. They include Dame Sarah Storey, who last week won two gold medals in the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Mexico, World and European cycling champion Katie Archibald, and Olympic gold medalist Ed Clancy.
As well as the elite races, the Milk Race will offer a unique opportunity for the whole family to take part. Three categories of public rides are open for registration – a family ride (suitable for all ages and abilities, including young children), a community ride (for children and adults 8 years plus of all abilities) and an advanced ride (12 years plus, suitable for club riders, experienced cyclists and regular commuters).
The event’s return to Nottingham has been made possible by The Dairy Council and Nottingham City Council who are hosting a day of family activities in Old Market Square on the Saturday before the Milk Race.
Councillor David Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Sport and Leisure at Nottingham City Council, said: “With activities for the whole family, plus the cream of British elite cycling taking to Nottingham’s roads, this year’s Milk Race looks set to be even bigger than in 2013.”
Dairy Council Chairman Sandy Wilkie said: “With one month to go, it’s fantastic to see the excitement building for this year’s event. The standard of the elite cyclists is set to be even higher than in 2013 and with the public rides on offer once again, the Milk Race will have something for everyone.”
The Nottingham Building Society has sponsored the Family Ride in this year’s Milk Race. On being a local sponsor, Partnership and Sponsorships Manager Vicky Hall said: “We are delighted to sponsor the 2014 Family Ride. The Milk Race is a prestigious event that originated in the heartland of Nottingham so it’s great to be able to offer families across the whole community a chance to take part.”
Further information about the 2014 Milk Race can be found at www.themilkrace.com.
About The Milk Race
Between 1958 and 1993, The Milk Race was the most prestigious cycling event in the British calendar, and the (now disbanded) Milk Marketing Board’s sponsorship remains the longest association that the sport has ever had.
The multistage race of old was conducted over a number of day races – across a number of locations – and was contested by some of the most successful ever road cyclists.
Previous Milk Race winners include Shane Sutton – a current part of British Cycling’s coaching set-up – and Malcolm Elliott, the team manager of the Node4-Giordana professional team.
In 2013, The Milk Race returned after 20 years and was held in Nottingham city centre – attended by over 60,000 people. Dani King and Felix English won the women’s elite race and the men’s elite race respectively.
The Milk Race is a registered trademark of The Dairy Council and the event is funded by members of the Milk Marketing Forum (comprised of Arla Foods UK, Dairy Crest Limited, First Milk and Müller Wiseman Dairies).
It’s been a few years since bike racing hit the Prom in Blackpool, but this year the Lewis Balyckyi Memorial Crits have left the Palatine circuit and have moved on to the Prom at Bispham. Further details can be found below:
Organiser Jerrod Hartley has been working extremely hard behind the scenes to secure the use of the Prom to ensure that the day will be one not to be missed! All profits from the races and the raffle will go towards the Lewis Balyckyi Trust Fund, which is a registered charity (registered charity number 1150807) that raises money to help aspiring athletes fulfill their dreams and potential as cyclists.
The event is supported by Smiths Equipment Hire who have a variety of offers for those supporting the event, which are detailed below:
Lean, Light Recipes for Athletes
by Matt Fitzgerald & Georgie Fear
Matt Fitzgerald and Georgie Fear have come together to produce ‘The Racing Weight Cookbook for Athletes’. This book is aimed at endurance athletes, giving you the tools and knowledge to improve your diet, to fuel performance for training and racing. It’s all about obtaining your optimal racing weight through healthy eating, within the requirements of your bodies needs. It explains that conventional diets are no good for endurance athletes.
I’ve read the pre cursor to this book ‘Racing Weight: How to get lean for peak performance’ so was really interested to see what this book had to offer.
The book is also very cleverly aimed at different kinds of cooks. Those that can’t cook, those that can cook a little and those of us who love cooking. So even if you love cooking but don’t have time, you can use the ‘can’t cook’ section.
As both a coach and an athlete I was very interested to see if the cookbook would enhance what the first book delivered and it certainly does that.
There is a brief outline about the first book, but there is enough information for you not to need to read it. It’s easy to follow and won’t take you long to get started, a definite plus!
This book is really good for those of us who have never managed to stick to a diet for longer than a few weeks, that’s because it is not a diet book. It gives you lots of tips and tricks to get the energy you need without overeating, tips for swapping foods and best of all, lots of recipes. It looks at how many carbohydrates your body needs, dependant on your weight and the amount of hours you are training for. There is also a handy table that can help you score the quality of the food you are currently eating. It’s very easy to follow, which was great for me as I do tend to get bored very quickly.
I have to say the recipes are amazing and the pictures make the recipes look appetising. I particularly liked the chocolate peanut butter banana shake as a post workout meal. Eating post workout is something I struggle with, but this was a great recipe, easy to make and super quick to drink. Plus and I always think this the seller… it tastes great!! Really, it does!
I’ve also had a go at one of their Granola recipes, wow, honestly I have been bowled over by every recipe I’ve tried.
One thing about recipe books though, which I do dislike, besides the American measures, is the need to buy things that most people don’t have in their store cupboard. So essentially it’s all about planning and shopping.
I pondered over whether a club cyclist would buy a book like this or whether it was specifically aimed at competing athletes. On reflection, everybody who spends quite a lot of time on their bikes would benefit from this book, you don’t need to be competing, just putting the miles in, so maybe the title ‘Racing Weight’ will marginalise sales of this book.
Would I buy it? As a coach? Yes I would, as an athlete? Yes definitely. Would I recommend this book? Without a doubt.
The Racing Weight Cookbook gets a Cycling Shorts Star Buy Rating!
Four-year-old identical twins; Jake and Theo Riddle, from Queenstown New Zealand are literally the new kids on the block in BMX terms. A video of their skills caught my eye last month and I thought I’d share this compilation with you, it brings a smile to my face. The twins throw themselves right into jumps and drops – when they spill they just get back on their bikes.
“It was worse when they were younger and didn’t know how to fall but it didn’t seem to faze them, they’d just get on their bikes and carry on with blood on their chins. We’ve never pushed them to get back on their bikes.” Dad Steve said.
Jake and Theo got their BMX addiction when they were very little (as if 4 wasn’t young enough) they were attempting to pull stunts the minute they got their balance bikes as you can see form the last few frames of the film.
The boys skills are impressive for their age, they would put most BMX obsessed teen to shame. They’ve had offers of sponsorship deals and TV appearances from around the world, though I’m not sure they’ve taken up the offers yet, but if you’re looking for an agent Jake & Theo… ;D
Mum Emma said, “The boys don’t seem bothered in the slightest about their new cycling celebrity profile, they’ve just been watching Scooby Doo and going to kindy”.
Following my high scoring reviews of the Bike Floss (90%) and the Bike Polish & Frame Protector (100%) from UK Company Purple Harry, I now turn to their Wash & Polish Mitt.
It is made from good quality microfibre material and shaped into a three fingered ‘lobster claw’ glove, which according to their website “has been ergonomically designed with the bike’s shape and contours in mind – allowing access to difficult areas whilst avoiding catching on the drive train and snagging in components”.
For this review I will be comparing this mitt with my usual cleaning materials; standard square shaped microfibre cloths bought from my local Pound store!
The Mitt costs at least SIX times more than the cloths I have been using for many years for cleaning and polishing duties, but is it worth the extra expense?
I hit a problem with the Mitt straight away; I couldn’t get it onto my hand.
My hands are not excessively large, but I struggled for a while before having to resort to using scissors to cut the black narrow cuff stitched into the Mitt to allow my hand in. Due to the Lobster claw shape your second and third fingers are forced apart, which felt uncomfortable to start with, but overtime became less troublesome.
Also while working on the bike, because you have two pairs of fingers held together, it restricts how well you can get into those small little gaps and crevices that need to be reached while cleaning or polishing. My natural instinct is to use just the finger-tip of my index finger to get to those more intricate areas, something you can’t do very successfully with this Mitt as the combined width of two fingers stops you reaching as far as you would like.
Also with my normal square cloth I can easily reach every corner on the frame by using it in a flossing action by just pulling one corner into the tight spot, for example cleaning between the rear wheel and chain stays, the gap is far too narrow to get my finger in between.
Another disadvantage of using the Mitt is that the actual area of material that you can use for cleaning/polishing is very limited; meaning that it quickly becomes too dirty or clogged. You have the whole Mitt but in reality can only effectively use the finger tips for finer work and the length of your fingers for working on the more accessible areas.
To use the other side you will need to take the Mitt off and put it on your other hand. This means that it might become too dirty to finish the job, you will have to wash it after every use or you will need to buy a couple more!
My way of working is that I currently have several microfibre cloths in use, each one is given a different task depending on how dirty it is; brand new ones are used for dusting and polishing only, but once they become clogged or a little dirty they then move onto drying or light cleaning duties and the previous one used for this purpose is ‘downgraded’ to more dirty tasks and so on until the very last one is used exclusively for chain cleaning work – and once this is oil soaked it is binned and another trip to the Pound shop is made to buy a fresh one to start the process again.
These cloths can be washed too, but as they cost as little as 99p for three it is not worth the effort. As they are square shaped you can use every inch of the cloth, both sides included, and by wrapping your index finger in the cloth with the remainder held in the palm of your hand you can reach those smaller awkward places with a clean patch of fabric every time unlike the Mitt.
From the picture above; in the bottom left is a new cloth, and each one in a clockwise direction becomes progressively dirtier.
So, as you can gather from my comments, I would not recommend that you pay £5.99 for this Mitt, instead buy six standard cloths and use a rotation system similar to mine, you will get much more value for money and they’ll do a better job too!
Left, is a comparison of cleaning area between the Mitt and cloths for the same price. Unfortunately I am awarding my lowest score so far, all the effort that has gone into cutting out the shape, stitching it together and attention to detail like adding the cuff and Purple Harry label has not only cost a lot to do, it has also severely restricted its usefulness, which is reflected in my score below:
Sorry to the Guys at Purple Harry, I can only give the Mitt a paltry score of 17%.
With the constant rain that has become the norm here in the UK lately, it has become more important than ever to regularly clean your bike. This will not only reduce corrosion, but also limit the wear from those little bits of grit and muck that stick to the frame and components when cycling on wet roads.
The UK produced Purple Harry Bike Polish will not only leave your bike sparkling, it also leaves a protective layer of waxes and silicones, adding an extra barrier to your paintwork which will make it easier to clean in the future too!
Simply pour a small amount onto a clean soft cloth of your choice, apply to the bike in a circular motion and then wait for at least 5 minutes for the polish to dry, then buff off to reveal a gleaming silky smooth surface. Of course, as with any polish, avoid getting any on the braking surfaces and it’s not recommended for use on the saddle or brake levers!
In the past I have only used the same polish as I use on my car (Turtle Wax), and have been pleased with the results, but I was very impressed with the Purple Harry Polish.
The crown on my carbon forks had minute scratches that always caught my eye in the past, but now they are gone, to be replaced by a nice deep black mirror like shine!
I also got a good finish when applying the polish to the painted Aluminium frame, carbon forks, Aluminium chainset and even plastic mudguards, so it can be used on most bike surfaces (take extra care if polishing wheel rims not to make the braking surface super slippery!).
My bike has never looked so good, after using the Bike Floss sticks to clean the cassette and chain and now protecting every suitable surface with the Bike Polish, it is almost in ‘as new’ condition. This is impressive; when you consider that it is a 2008 bike that I bought secondhand, which gets used nearly every day, for either a weekend ride or my commute to work.
It is difficult to say how often you should apply the polish, I guess it depends on the weather conditions and how often the bike gets washed, and obviously you wouldn’t use it every time you clean the bike. Perhaps 3 to 4 times a year seems to me to be a sensible figure. The bottle should therefore last for years (Unless, because of the fantastic results, you go on to use it on your car, caravan, or boat too!).
I really can’t find any negatives; it just works better than anything else I have tried before.
So, a first from me, a score of 100% for Purple Harry Bike Polish!
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Subscribe for 10% Discount!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest cycling news and updates from our team. Receive 10% off your first order placed in our online shop!
Dairy Council Chairman Sandy Wilkie said: “With one month to go, it’s fantastic to see the excitement building for this year’s event. The standard of the elite cyclists is set to be even higher than in 2013 and with the public rides on offer once again, the Milk Race will have something for everyone.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.