Governing body for cycling sport in Great Britain
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Quillan joins the boys this week to chat about his departure from the British Cycling team, training in the Manchester Indoor facility, travelling with the BC crew, his latest trip down under to Australia, and much more. Enjoy! #Chatter
In this week's episode James is joined by Phil Burt, former head of physiotherapy at British Cycling and Team Sky and the man who literally wrote the book on bike fit. They discuss micro adjusters and macro absorbers, how riders' needs and wants are changing, and the affect of indoor cycling on the body.Phil also explains the theory behind shorter cranks, the advantages, and how Bradley Wiggins was already on 165mm cranks at the Rio Olympics in 2016.Interview starts at 10:38.------------------ This episode is brought to you by Trek's custom Project One programme, which offersfull custom paint, components and setup on every Trek bicycle. Check out Trek.com to start designing your dream bike now. ------------------ Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine? Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door. And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
David Bailey is a physiologist and coach. He's been a performance director at Israel Premier Tech, British Cycling, BMC Racing & Bahrain McLaren.
For decades, 175mm cranks were the go-to choice in the pro peloton. But now, from Tour de France champions to elite gravel racers, the shift to 165mm is in full swing. To understand the science behind this trend, we sat down with Phil Burt—renowned physiotherapist for Team Sky, Ineos, and British Cycling. He's the expert who helped guide Sir Bradley Wiggins to Olympic gold, and today, he's here to explain why shorter cranks aren't just for the pros anymore. But making the switch isn't as simple as swapping crank arms. Phil breaks down the three essential bike fit adjustments you need to get right—because without them, you could be sacrificing speed, comfort, and efficiency. WHOOP Your health underpins EVERYTHING you do in life, and WHOOP helps you understand and proactively improve it through 24/7 monitoring. Go to join.whoop.com/Roadman to get a free month's WHOOP membership on me! ROUVY ROUVY replicates terrain, gradients, and resistance, giving you the most authentic indoor cycling experience possible. Explore, train, and ride with ROUVY—visit ROUVY.com to start your adventure today! And to get one month FREE use code Roadman1m 4iiii Powermeter The PRECISION 3+ Powermeter from 4iiii is a compact yet powerful unit & is packed with features that set it apart, including integration with Apple's Find My network PLUS It's got up to 800 hours of battery life.Learn more by visiting 4iiii.com LeCol For amazing cycling kit go check out LeCol at www.lecol.cc Use code roadman20 to get 20% off your LeCol order The heart beat of our community & best place to reach me is Twitter Want to watch full interviews on video? Check out our new Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/roadmancycling?sub_confirmation=1
Alan Murchison is a well-known Michelin-starred chef who has carved out a niche as a performance chef for cyclists and endurance athletes. He combines his culinary expertise with a deep understanding of nutrition tailored to high-performance demands. He's worked with elite athletes and teams, including British Cycling and other professional squads. In today's podcast Anthony and Alan dive deep into the critical role nutrition plays in improving cycling performance, whether you're a total newbie or a seasoned rider. Discover practical tips on fueling your body for maximum results, the importance of consistency in nutrition, and how sustainable eating can enhance both your health and the planet. Alan also shares insights on the latest research surrounding plant-based diets and how they can fit into an active lifestyle. WHOOP Your health underpins EVERYTHING you do in life, and WHOOP helps you understand and proactively improve it through 24/7 monitoring. Go to join.whoop.com/Roadman to get a free month's WHOOP membership on me! ROUVY ROUVY replicates terrain, gradients, and resistance, giving you the most authentic indoor cycling experience possible. Explore, train, and ride with ROUVY—visit ROUVY.com to start your adventure today! And to get one month FREE use code Roadman1m 4iiii Powermeter The PRECISION 3+ Powermeter from 4iiii is a compact yet powerful unit & is packed with features that set it apart, including integration with Apple's Find My network PLUS It's got up to 800 hours of battery life.Learn more by visiting 4iiii.com LeCol For amazing cycling kit go check out LeCol at www.lecol.cc Use code roadman20 to get 20% off your LeCol order The heart beat of our community & best place to reach me is Twitter Want to watch full interviews on video? Check out our new Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/roadmancycling?sub_confirmation=1
I'm delighted to speak to Dr Caz Nahman and Dr Andrew Kirkland in this week's episode. We discuss the role of language and the environment when considering mental health in sport. Caz is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Caz has also completed additional training in sport psychiatry with the ISSP (International Society for Sport Psychiatry) and is currently Deputy Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatry Sports and Exercise Psychiatry Special Interest Group. Caz has experience working within a general child and adolescent setting as well as working in in-patient and community eating disorders services. She has previously been an elected member of the RCPsych Eating Disorders Faculty and in this role co-edited a book - New to Eating Disorders - designed as a training tool for staff new to working within this field. Caz's interests include compulsive overexercise; youth sport; eating disorders in athletes, autism spectrum disorders in athletes, life-style psychiatry and medical education. In addition, she is keen to improve standards of care for athletes with mental health problems. Andrew is a Lecturer in Sports Coaching at the University of Stirling. He is also a member of the General University Ethics Panel, a Chartered Scientist and a BASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist (support & pedagogy). Andrew has worked as a sport physiologist and coach developer at British Cycling and supports others in developing performance environments. Andrew's research philosophy is driven by impact and translation of research into practice. Specifically, he uses Implementation and Behavioural Change Science to explore mental health in sport, 'merging' his practical experience with evidence-based practice with the aim of helping others to develop more effective sporting systems.
Send us a textWith British cycling in turmoil this winter, following the closure of the country's two remaining UCI Continental teams, this week's episode of the road.cc Podcast features one rider who's forging an alternative path through the struggling domestic scene – former Lotto-Soudal pro Matt Holmes.After hanging up his wheels at the end of 2022, following a three-year spell racing for WorldTour team Lotto-Soudal – which saw him win a Tour Down Under stage and ride some of cycling's biggest race but which ultimately left him disenchanted with the sport – Holmes returned to racing, with immediate success, in May.This time, however, as squads continue to fall by the wayside, he's doing it without a team, as a a fully-fledged privateer – choosing his own calendar, looking after himself before and during races, riding on donated equipment, and seeking out his own sponsors. In 2025, this DIY approach to racing will see him dive headfirst into the gravel scene, while prepping a possible tilt at a team pursuit spot for LA '28, after an aborted bid to make the Paris team this year.During an insightful, thoughtful chat, Matt discusses his journey from racing in Britain to the WorldTour and back, adjusting to life after racing, his return as a privateer and how you go about supporting and marketing yourself on your own, the state of the current domestic scene, and why a reset could do British cycling the world of good in the long term.And in part two, we were joined by one of those sponsors keeping Matt on the road – the co-founders of One Good Thing, the world's first wrapper-free oat and protein bars for cyclists, father and son Mike and Daniel Bedford, to discuss what inspired OGT's creation and whether cycling – for all its other environmental credentials – has a litter problem.
In 2002, the British Cycling Team was a disaster. For 76 years, they had won a single Olympic gold medal. The culture was poor, the infrastructure was lacking, and the team was stuck in a cycle of underperformance.But then something changed. The team hired Dave Brailsford, who took a radical approach—he focused on making small, incremental improvements across every area.They didn't just improve the riders' physical performance; they looked at the bikes, the nutrition, the way they traveled, and even the sheets they slept on. The goal wasn't to make one big change but to improve everything, just a little, every day.The results? Well, the British Cycling Team went on to dominate the Olympics and become a powerhouse in the cycling world. And it wasn't a fluke. The same principles they applied in cycling can be applied to any business, including yours.What if we started improving everything from the way we interact with clients to the way we manage our business finances or design our fitness programs?That's exactly what Rick and Matt discuss in this episode. They highlight how small changes in every aspect of your business can have a compounding effect that leads to long-term success. Tune in to hear more!Key TakeawaysIntro (00:00)British cycling team's transformation (01:35)Business lessons from British Cycling (04:29)Holistic approach to success (11:31)Innovation and simplification (16:54)Trust the process (20:27)Additional Resources:- Alloy Personal Training- Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven't already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!
British Cycling is one of the jewels in the crown of UK Sport but has endured its struggles in recent years, both in terms of governance and commercially. Jon Dutton joined the NGB as CEO, having previously served in the same role at the delayed Rugby League World Cup 2021, and has set about re-establishing a high-performance culture at British Cycling. Given that experience, Dutton was the ideal guest to join SportsPro CEO and NorthStar Solutions Group CEO Chris Collins to discuss the delivery of the strategies required to achieve those goals in the business of sport. Over six instalments of this special series from SportsPro and strategy realisation specialist NorthStar, we'll be hearing from top leaders across the sports industry with the primary objective of uncovering what it really takes to win in their field. Subscribe to the SportsPro Podcast feed to make sure you don't miss an episode.
David Brailsford revolutionised British Cycling. He took them from 1 Olympic Gold Medal and 0 Tour de France victories to 178 World Championship gold medals, 66 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals and 5 Tour de France victories. All through his concept of "the aggregation of marginal gains". No huge, sweeping, wholesale changes. Just 1% across every area of the elite cyclist. His concept was overwhelmingly proven correct. You can also apply this concept to your training, nutrition and lifestyle, and take small but extremely actionable and sustainable steps to revolutionise your own physique and performance. In this episode I tell you exactly how, and give you 3 great examples of fitness and nutrition marginal gains. To learn more about my 1-1 online coaching service to help you become a physically exception over 30, just click here www.coachianwood.com/coaching
This week Robyn and Will are joined by track superstar Joanna Rowsell. Joanna was picked up in 2004 by British Cycling's Talent Team, which visited her school looking for new talent, and just four years later she won her first World Championships in the team pursuit. Three more team pursuit world titles followed plus a fifth in the individual pursuit, but it was the Olympics that made her a household name. Riding alongside Laura Trott (latterly Kenny) and Dani King (latterly Rowe), Joanna won two consecutive team pursuit golds, the first at London 2012 and the second at Rio 2016 Games. Retired from competition since 2017, Joanna is still firmly embedded in the sport as pundit and commentator, appearing across the BBC's Olympic coverage this summer.In this episode, Joanna discusses the Olympics and the impact it had on British cycling; coming back from successes and medals to face real life; the emotional connection she still feels with riders from the commentary box; Matthew Richardson's switching nationalities from Aussie to Brit to compete for Team GB; plus she looks back at a stellar career that helped change the face of the sport in Britain and the popularity of women's cycling worldwide.Interview begins at 18.06----Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine? Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door. And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Cycling Legends Podcast [free version; no premium access]
As the end-of-season devil makes work for idle podcasters, David, Chris and Gary ponder whether it's time for British Cycling to take a leaf out of the England football team's book and get Johnny Foreigner in to sort stuff out? This plus Track Worlds snippets, how to wind up the the World Tour in style and taking in the tragic news from Sir Chris Hoy. Recommendations The new look Cycling Legends website - https://www.cyclinglegends.co.uk Fumpa Pumps - https://www.fumpapumps.co.uk and https://www.fumpapumps.co.uk Takeaway Thieves - https://www.takeawaythieves.com/ Drop us a line at cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!
Other People's Money is our regular series on sports investment, with co-host Matt Rogan, co-founder of Two Circles.Today we get in to the minutiae of deal making, with Steve Hacking, managing partner at Latitude Partners, who has worked on more than 200 company acquisitions for clients across both buy and sell side of investment deals in sectors ranging from technology and telecoms to media, healthcare, retail and sport, including working on behalf of Sky Sports and British Cycling in the creation of the Team Sky Pro Cycling team.So, nobody better to interrogate the tricks of the due diligence trade, how to analyse future potential and what to look for when buying or selling a business.This episode of Unofficial Partner is sponsored by We Are Sweet, helping you tell compelling stories in-the-moment, as they happen, from the heart of the action. We Are Sweet captures live biometric data from athletes to uncover great stories, from the big occasions to subtle micro-moments you might not even know are taking place. These are crafted into captivating stories and transformed into stunning visuals ready for your broadcast, live event displays, and second-screen fan experiences, all in real-time. From head-to-head heart rates to anticipated overtakes, We Are Sweet provides AI-driven insights to fuel conversations, inform bookmakers and predict future outcomes, all in the name of deepening fan engagement. Enhance your audience's understanding of the action like never before by using live data from We Are Sweet.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.
I'm delighted to speak with performance coach and scientist, Dr Mehdi Kordi this week. Mehdi began his career in biomedical science before moving into aerospace physiology. His first position in high performance sport was as a sports scientist for British Cycling before moving into coaching role with the GB Para Cycling Team. In 2018 Mehdi joined the KNWU – The Dutch National Cycling Union – initially as coach and scientist for the Track Sprint Team, and then as Track Coach for the Endurance Team. In 2022 he became the Head Coach for KNWU. During this time both the men's and the women's teams enjoyed unprecedented success in major cycling competitions including the Olympic games. Mehdi has a PhD from The University of Northumbria in Sport and Exercise Physiology. Mehdi and I speak about the cultural and coaching interventions that transformed the Dutch cycling team from obscurity into Gold Medal winners.
Quillan Isidore is one of the fastest elites in the world. Coming into the Olympics in Paris it looked like he was going to be an alternate for the GB team heading to Paris. For a moment it looked like he was going until a return call from Kye Whyte put paid to those dreams. Q was the second alternate after Ross Cullen. It meant he wasn't traveling to the Olympics nor did he get any swag. The let down forced him to do a reset. He's unsure he'll continue to receive funding from British Cycling. So, he's turned his eye to coaching to make up the difference to continue racing at a high level if things don't go his way. Quillan is even looking to bring his coaching skills to the United States for a stint. At 28 years old Quillan says he still has a lot left in the tank. He says he's clearly looking to make the Olympic team for the Los Angeles Olympics and to be honest I think he can. Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
In this podcast we share what your sales team can learn from the incredible improvement success of the British Cycling Team. We map out the blueprint for you to be winning more sales and more gold medals in your business. It's all about the Theory of Marginal Gains - applied to your sales team. Want to find out more..
Today, we're diving into the world of marginal gains. This term was originally coined by Sir Dave Brailsford, a former performance director of British Cycling and Team Ienos Grenadiers. But you might be aware of this concept via James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits who uses this concept in his uber-best-selling book. ~In this episode, we'll discuss how marginal gains can transform your work and life, just as they did for countless athletes and entrepreneurs. You will learn a few actionable steps for making tiny, frequent improvements across your business operations. So let's unpack the power of incremental progress and how it can build a bridge to your success. Welcome to five minute magic from Creativity For Sale Podcast. A quick fire episode, sharing tips and tricks from the pages of the book of the same title. Every week I'll be sharing one or two ideas that can give you. And actionable take away for your creative career, your business, or just the food for thought for the weekend ahead. These are taken from the audio book, and you can find the full version in the show notes . Creativity For Sale: How to start and grow a life-changing creative career and business by Radim Malinic - Out now. Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFcFree audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/8r2eSAQSigned books https://novemberuniverse.co.ukLux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/ (Use: PODCAST for 15% off)November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)
The Cycling Legends Podcast [free version; no premium access]
Not content with fixing the UCI, our intrepid trio of David, Chris and Gary have genius to impart to - variously - the IOC, British Cycling and Fran Millar before she's even started her new job at Rapha. Sorry, Fran! Recommendations Tom Simpson Retro Cycling Festival 16-18 August 2024 https://www.tomsimpsonmemorialfund.co.uk/ Sigma Sports Matt Stephens Cafe Ride - Greg Lemond https://youtu.be/sqicbqjF870?si=pB2T-7pD3BJ5VEgo David Stanley - The Olympian: Sonnet #367 https://dstanley.substack.com/p/the-olympian Massive Wagons - Night Skies (out 7 August) https://open.spotify.com/album/3nWZUWmecvqdKQbAOjKild?si=05iD1V9BR1mLYqCV0s--iQ Elles Bailey - Beneath the Neon Glow (out 9 August) https://www.ellesbailey.com/ Drop us a line - we'd love to hear from you! cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com
Over the past two decades, Team GB has been the dominant track cycling force at the Olympic Games – and arrives at Paris 2024 looking to add to the haul of gold medals. In this episode of the BikeRadar Podcast, triple Olympic champion Ed Clancy reveals the space-age tech used to help power British riders to glory through his career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Team GB's Emma Finucane is on a whirlwind rise through women's cycling and is heading to Paris with high hopes that she could become the next name in British Cycling royalty.Just a year ago, this wasn't even part of the plan. It all changed for the 21-year-old when she won the 2023 World Championships as a newcomer and she's since had to manage the shift in expectations and attention that comes when you're no longer an underdog but one of the favourites.She discusses her rise to the top, how she uses nerves as a performance enhancer, why she doesn't do mind games and why it's statistically harder for women to become repeat winners.With Paris 2024 approaching, she also looks ahead to the biggest summer of her life, sharing her thoughts on what it feels like to take on her first Olympics as one of the big guns, what she'll do the day before the race to take her mind off things and what to expect where it matters - on the track. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
After months of uncertainty, British Cycling have the money, the title partner and the race director: now they also have the races. Incredibly, the Tours of Britain have been saved, thanks to a five-year sponsorship deal with Lloyds Bank that is believed to be in the region of £20 million. We hear from British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton as he tells the media about the "landmark deal" that will see Lloyds Bank immediately become the title partner of the Tour of Britain events, as well as what BC are calling its "major events vision". We also reveal that former organisers Sweetspot were close to securing a deal of their own with Lloyds last year before they were forced into liquidation. On the back of this thrilling news for British cycling as a whole, we also look ahead to three days of great racing at the Ride London Classique. The event has attracted many of the biggest names in the women's peloton including Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes and Lizzi Deignan, as well as Zoe Bäckstedt, who's fresh from her second place in the Antwerp Port Epic. In an exclusive interview, the 19-year-old Canyon-SRAM rider reflects on her highlights of the season so far, the excitement she feels at the prospect of racing in front of home fans at Ride London, and the possibility of selection for this summer's Paris Olympics. Sam Bennett is another rider hoping that he gets the chance to shine in France this summer, in his case at the Tour de France, which he's not appeared in since winning the green jersey in 2020. Buoyed by five victories at last week's Four Days of Dunkirk, the Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale sprinter looks back on that success, reveals the race he's chosen as prep for the Tour, and talks up his chances of being selected for his currently all-conquering French team. In our "How to Make Cycling Better" feature, we hear from EF Education-EasyPost team manager Charly Wegelius, who outlines a way in which he believes racing could not only be safer for the riders, but also attract bigger audiences. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Professor Tony Purnell discusses his journey from a passion for motor racing and engineering in his youth to founding and leading Pi Research, a company specializing in race car electronics. He shares his experiences at university, including a Kennedy Scholarship to MIT, and his early career in the motor racing industry. Tony also explains how Pi Research expanded into the automotive industry and eventually caught the attention of Ford, leading to the company's acquisition. His story highlights the importance of passion, perseverance, and seizing opportunities in pursuing a successful career. Tony shares his experiences in the world of Formula One, from Ford's interest in buying the team to his role in restructuring the Aero department at Jaguar. He discusses the challenges he faced and the politics and dishonesty he encountered in the industry. Tony also reflects on the stress and burnout he experienced and the difficulties he had working with Red Bull. He highlights the contrasting views of Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone on the future of Formula One and the changes that occurred under Liberty Media's ownership. In this conversation, Tony discusses his experiences in Formula One and British Cycling. He talks about the challenges of managing Formula One and the difficulties faced by organizations like Toyota in adapting to the sport. He also shares his reasons for leaving the FIA, including the Max Mosley sex scandal. He highlights the innovations he contributed to Formula One, such as the introduction of adjustable ride height and the DRS system. He discusses the politics and paranoia in Formula One and the importance of working with manufacturers. He then transitions to his role in British Cycling, where he emphasizes the impact of engineering on the sport. Tony expresses his concerns about the increasing technicality of cycling and the need to balance technology with talent. He concludes by offering advice for aspiring engineers, emphasizing the importance of following dreams. Enjoy!
In this TALK ONLY episode Bobby discusses a system for execution and growth that can be applied to projects or goals of any size that also requires nearly zero management costs. He also shares how this system has lead to British Cycling dominance for several decades. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/flow-state/message
In this episode, we spotlight the journey and insights of Mehdi Kordi. With a rich and varied background, from biomedical science, to aerospace physiology, to accountancy, to mice in the Andes (yes you heard me correctly), then ultimately into a career in sports science and eventually coaching at the elite end of cycling. First Mehdi was at British Cycling as the sports scientist and hen coach at British Cycling, working with the Para team to Tokyo Games. Then Mehdi moved onto the Dutch National Cycling Federation and is currently creating outstanding success, in his role success as Head Coach (Track Sprint). When I say outstanding success, Mehdi truly encapsulates getting bang for the buck, that is in sports like cycling a mix of technology and human performance, generally the more money yoo put in the better your results. Mehdi and his small team have created disproportionate success by focusing on what matters most. Think ‘Massive Gains' rather than ‘Marginal Gains'. Mehdi's experiences offer a rare glimpse into the high-performance delivered with imagination, creativity, priority and constraints led innovation. So, irrespective of whether you like cycling or not, and if you do there is some juicy detail about riding a kilometer very fast, Mehdi's insights are more about a way of thinking and working, that breaks the mould, of more is better, that could be applied to a range of systems, teams and pursuits.
21st April 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 352: Laura Laker SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Laura Laker LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://twitter.com/laura_laker https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/potholes-and-pavements-9781399406468/ Carlton Reid 0:11 Welcome to Episode 352 of the Spokesmen cycling podcast. This show was engineered on Sunday, April 21 2024. David Bernstein 0:28 The Spokesmen cycling roundtable podcast is brought to you by Tern bicycles. The good people at Tern are committed to building bikes that are useful enough to ride every day and dependable enough to carry the people you love. In other words, they make the kind of bikes that they want to ride. Tern has e-bikes for every type of rider. Whether you're commuting, taking your kids to school or even carrying another adult, visit www.ternbicycles.com. That's t e r n bicycles.com to learn more. Carlton Reid 1:04 I'm Carlton Reid and today's show is a chat with like journalist Laura Laker, author of an excellent new book, Potholes and Pavements. This is a travelogue featuring Laura's travels around the UK, writing on some of the best and worst bits of Britain's National Cycle network. From jaw droppingly gorgeous looking ancient military roads in the Highlands of Scotland to dark and dingy urban back streets blocked with barriers. As the books subhead warns, it's a bumpy ride. Um, so you've written a book. Is this your first? Laura Laker 1:46 Yeah, my first my first book, believe it or not, Carlton Reid 1:49 well done. Congratulations. It's a brilliant first book. One of many. I'm sure it'll be one of many. I noticed you've got a an agent. Yeah, you say in the back and thank him. So I'm guessing you're going to be doing more books? Laura Laker 2:00 Yeah, I guess so. I'm not trying to think about it too much. This one was very long in the gestation. I had an idea back in 2017 to do a basically ring around talking to people. I'd listened to the audiobook of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie, in which he travels across the US with his big poodle, and talking to people and he says he's most wonderful conversations, which were later question for their veracity, but it's just, it's just a wonderful format. And I love I'd kind of in that trip to America, I rediscovered my love of talking to strangers, which I had as a kid, and I'm kind of lost over the years, I guess, being British, but spending time in the US where everyone is just willing to talk to you and tell you their life story. I rediscovered this just love of cycling, is brilliant for that, you know, just talking to people you're travelling around, you might stop at some lights, or you might pass someone on a path and just get chatting to them. And it's wonderful people have the most amazing stories, I think Carlton Reid 2:59 Well, there's two teachers that you met, hopefully they will read the book. You weren't avoiding them. Laura Laker 3:07 I know Greg and Norton, they were so brilliant. And the most unexpected encounters and I was up in the Cairngorms and travelling alone and feeling a bit like oh, you know, such a beautiful, it's ridiculously beautiful up there. I'm always just astounded by Scotland, and how how it's possible for somewhere to be so beautiful. And the NCN [National Cycle Network] across the Cairngorms is something else, it's really quite remarkable. A lot of its off road, it's this dedicated path. It was an old military road. And the rest is on fairly quiet country roads. And I was pootling along on my big pink ebike, which I did some of my adventures on and I saw these roadies coming up behind me and I thought well that they're going to overtake me in a bit. And sure enough, they did. We said hello. And then I saw them stopped at this bridge and they were looking over and they just had this wonderful kind of whimsy about them this they weren't they were going a long way actually they're going from kind of Aviemore back to Preston where they were at least one of them lived and doing it over a couple of days in sort of training one of them's an Ironman enthusiastic participants, but on the way they were stopping looking over bridges, that sort of waterfalls over rocks and like looking across the landscape and just enjoying the scenery. And that for me is what cycling is about. It's about appreciating the world around us and the people around us and so they said we'll ride with us for a while and as you know ebike your Aberdeen bought a bike mine included, maxes out at 15 and a half miles an hour which these guys were obviously capable of exceeding quite easily. So but they they rode with me for quite some time and we chatted and they were just fantastic. And then yeah, they they stopped for a week and I had to run inside for a week. And then I came out and they'd gone Carlton Reid 4:51 but it's quite a nice way to say goodbye. Are you are you are you taking notes as you're going along? So you wrote their names and what they did. And or you coding stuff. How are you physically? Laura Laker 5:02 Yeah, so I get back at the end of a ride and write stuff down. And I do think it's best that way, especially with travel writing, because you forget so much so quickly. And the big three Cornwall, I think is, you know, in the early parts of the book, when I first started the exploration, further afield, you know, writing stuff down as you experience it, or very soon after is really important because you lose a lot of the detail and the texture of what you're experiencing. And I think it just makes for much richer story that way, but also difficult to do because you're having to memorise and maybe that's why Steinbeck was getting criticised because he wasn't writing No, no. As he was going along, he's remembering it. Well, memories can do. Memory is really interesting, actually. Because we we probably most of us think that our memories are fairly good, or the way that remember things is correct. But actually, it's very, very subjective. And the longer time goes on, the more we forget, or the memory gets warped, or things get introduced that didn't exist, maybe and it's really very, very subjective. I've got I don't know for some things, I've got quite a good short term memory so I can remember to a certain extent, but obviously, as Homer Simpson once said, you know, one thing comes into your brain another thing has to leave it so. Carlton Reid 6:23 That's 100% me though. So this book Potholes and Pavements, a bumpy ride on Britain's National Cycle network, it comes out May the ninth published by Bloomsbur. £16.99. Excellent, excellent book. I read it yesterday and got up early this morning to make sure I finished it before I spoke with you. Now normally when when I talk to people for this podcast, I always get them to send me a photograph so I can do the you know, the socials and the thing that goes on the show notes. What have you with you, oh, an hour and a half to do that. Because I have ridden with you ridden with you on bits of the ride that you are right that you mentioned in your book. So when you mentioned that, you know the cycle superhighway. You make an item was like, I've got that photograph because I was holding my camera photographing you behind me? Laura Laker 7:20 Yeah, with Brian Deegan. Carlton Reid 7:21 There's knowing smiles when I'm reading your books like I was on that ride. Like I know, Laura. Oh, my word. It's also like me on that ride. And when you describe windmills, yes. But the windmills and it's a cute book for me. Also cute because I know lots of these people who you're describing. And I know in the book, it says he didn't want to be described as a hero. But he is a hero. And because it's about the National Cycle network, then clearly that's got to be the guy who not single handedly founded it, but certainly pushed it through with those with those early innovators. So that's John Grimshaw. So he comes in, he's, he's in at least three or four parts of the book, you've clearly gone to speak to him a number of times wonderful. And it's fantastic that he's in there, because he really doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Laura Laker 8:16 Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, he I obviously have to speak to John Grimshaw. Because a lot of people as he points out, and as I tried to convey in the book, a lot of people and probably, you know, uncountable numbers of people were involved in the foundation of and development of the National Cycle network. And then it's maintenance ever since many of whom are working for very little, in fact, nothing, because they loved it. But John really seemed like, talking to people and talking to him, was the driving this real driving force behind it and his kind of self belief and single minded determination, I think was a major driver and he is such a character. I mean, a bit of a Marmite character, I think, but, you know, it seems like you need people to kind of drive things forward. Carlton Reid 9:05 Cos you need somebody like that. He's a visionary. Yeah, you know. I love Malcolm Shepherd. I love Zavier Brice, the people who are in charge now and Malcolm was the guy who came in after after John. But Malcolm wasn't a visionary. Malcolm was an accountant. And when when the organisation any organisation any business gets big, then you very often need somebody else to take over. And there's lots of faction there at the time. You don't go into it in a great detail. That was enormous friction there and there's still enormous amount of bad blood between people. Laura Laker 9:46 Yeah, and it's interesting because Caroline Lovatt. Here's another key figure from fairly early on and still works with John today. On there, they're still building cycle routes under a different organisation, cycle routes and greenways and Um, she says that, you know, for for years, according to her, John kept disappearing from the kind of record of that of the history of the NCN on Wikipedia, she kept putting him back in. And um, yeah, I mean, the story was, and that was a difficult part of it to tell. But it was one that had to be mentioned, I didn't want to go too into it. But obviously, you know, John, leaving Sustrans under fairly strange circumstances, and really against his will, was was part of the story that needed to be told. And it was a different and I spoke to a number of people and nobody really, I think, you know, there were potentially nondisclosure agreements. And so nobody really talks about what exactly happened, which is why I call I mentioned the omerta. Because it really seems like everyone has a slightly different story, or, and I and again, I, you know, it's memory and it was a painful time. And it was a long time ago. And it's quite common, as you say, with new organisations, you've got this big driving force, but then sometimes they're not the person to carry on leading an organisation once the first major thing is done, and, you know, they might not be great with people is, you know, having a skill to start and drive something is not the same as being a sort of manager of people and diplomats. And it's, yeah, it's quite often it's a painful process, certainly not unique, I think. Carlton Reid 11:16 No, it's very common for that kind of thing to happen. However, saying that it's very important to recognise who was that visionary? And I think he lost an awful lot of that. So, so wonderful to see John. central to that. So that's really nice part of the book because I, you know, John, John is a wonderful, wonderful guy, and absolutely, this would not have happened without him. I know, there's lots of other people you know, David Sproxton, all these kind of people were there at the same time, George Ferguson. So So Sproxton was Aardman Animation. So people who know admire animation, George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, at one point, all these individuals were there at the time, but it needed that guiding force that needed that. Just somebody who woulda just said no, and just went ahead and did it. That was that was the ethos of Sustrans in the early days. So that Laura Laker 12:12 Yeah, yeah, because the status quo then as it is, today, is very much stacked against cycling routes happening. And so you kind of need a rebel who's not willing, who's you know, not willing to take no for an answer? Who's going to be able to make things happen? And I think in a way that kind of, I guess, you know, being from a fairly well off upper middle class background, you have the confidence really the education that kind of gives you that confidence and and then the character and self belief to just to drive that forward. Carlton Reid 12:47 Mmm. That you didn't mention not even once Cycling, Touring Club CTC cycling UK. Because the book isn't in all cycling, you are you are laser focused on the National Cycle network. But there was also friction between those two organisations, you know, stranden effect was an upstart organisation, then it got for £42.5 million with Meatloaf handing that over on TV or that kind of stuff. And there was there was an awful lot of friction between still is between strands and and what is today cycling UK. So you haven't got into that at all. What Why didn't you go into that? Is that just because you wanted to just stay laser focused on the cycle network? Laura Laker 13:36 I mean, I mentioned that not everyone felt that Sustrans was being helpful because they felt that cycle route should be delivered by government and charities stepping in. And taking that role almost allows the government to say, well, you know, someone's doing it. Now. We don't need to get involved. But I mentioned the kind of tension between certain types of cyclists. I think I might quote to you, I think I've got you in the references on that. But I mean, I don't know if I just don't know how. I don't know. It's yeah, it's a tricky one. It's how much to include, and you always have to make these decisions, what to include and what not to include, and I guess I just didn't feel like that was a key part of the story at all. There was some thinking at the time around that but and I'm aware that there was tension and I know that Mark Strong for one who gets quite a mention in the book, talked about Sustrans being too successful and not successful enough in that, you know, they were doing this job notionally? No, they were doing a great job for with what they had and who they were and ie not the government and with not very much money but they were doing enough just to allow the government to just say, You know what, well Sustrans is delivering the National Cycle network, tick, job done. Let's get back to the serious business of roads. Carlton Reid 15:01 because there is there is you meant we will get on to the very positive points, you've got like a bunch of what what do you call it in the book where you've got a whole bunch of asks basically? Oh, yeah, the manifesto, the manifesto. There you go. Number one, we'll go through these points. 10 point manifesto. So there's some positive stuff to talk about that. But you don't really mention that there's this that, you know, you're talking about, you know, this should be funded nationally, and there is that struggle, bear with you know, this is a charity, etc, etc. But then you've also got the weakness of you have actually got to at least have British Cycling as well, three competing organisations, going to government and asking for money for various things. And wouldn't it be nicer and more practical and may even get more stuff? If there's only one organisation so there is that there is the absolute fault line running through cycling? That is one of the reasons why it's very easy for the government to not do stuff because they're getting told different things by different organisations and one organisation saying don't back them back us. So there's that kind of friction there. Laura Laker 16:22 I don't know if that's if I see it that way. I mean, Sustrans cycling UK, and British Cycling, and things like livable streets are all part of the walking and cycling Alliance. And I think what that what that's trying to do is to unify the voice, because ultimately they want the same thing. I mean, British cycling's coming at it from a sports point of view. But recognising that its members also need safe roads to cycle on. And that means a whole host of other things, safe protected routes in cities. And that's popular with members. And then cycling UK, originally a touring group, now a charity that lobbies for Safe Routes, safe conditions, and also delivers stuff for government, such as what to fix your ride, and a bunch of other things. And then Sustrans is a National Cycle network and behaviour change programmes. So there are overlaps, but I do think they are distinct. And I don't see I don't see it as I mean, they probably have internal, you know, perspectives on things and perhaps don't always agree with what the other one was doing. But I think I think they tend to present a fairly unified front these days. Carlton Reid 17:30 They're not as bad nowadays. I mean, it's when you get rid of it certainly did not get rid. That's the That's the wrong phrase. When individuals leave organisations, it can change because a new people come in, and you know, those alliances are, that's what you're just used to. But you know, before that alliance was put in place, they were cats and dogs, they were really hating on each other and slagging each other off to government as well. So that's why government was able to go up. This cycling is just mad look, these these, you know, what they, these three cats in a sack just fighting each other. Laura Laker 18:03 And then you saw, I mean, I think I talked about, you know, Malcolm Shepherd, who was the CEO after John Grimshaw. He went to ministers, and he was saying, why aren't we getting the funding we asked for? Or why are we getting taken seriously, I think was the question. And he was told, Well, you don't ask for enough money, basically. So they were thinking and perhaps this kind of historic infighting is also a function of the fact that these were kind of fledgling organisations to an extent for some time, not very much funding. They were run by enthusiasts probably, who all had their own ideas. And of course, let's not forget that there were also the vehicular ISTS who didn't even believe that we needed cycling's of which I think cycling UK early on was one and that might explain why they disagree with Sustrans who were trying to yes, no, there was a whole cohort who stands for that reason, absolutely. 100%. So maybe that, you know, it perhaps is a function of just the whole movement being in its infancy. I mean, it's been going for a good 40 or so years, but I don't know, maybe it was maybe it was just run by enthusiasts for a very long time. And that's why it's taken a while to kind of mature but also I think it was going I mean, our cycling lobby, organisations were kind of leading the way for much longer than a lot of European countries in a nice talk about this in the book in countries like France and in the Netherlands and in Denmark, they all started their calls for National Cycle networks or at least safe routes, thanks to charities and voluntary organisations. And then fairly quickly, were all taken on by the government who saw this as a piece of infrastructure firstly, quite often for leisure, but then they realised people were using these routes for commuting trips, and it was it needed to be part of the infrastructure and was taken up with great enthusiasm and in Sweden as well. By the various local departments and regional governments and delivered quite quickly and at quite a kind of scale. And that hasn't really happened here. And so perhaps those kinds of just the longevity of those cycling groups being so crucial to anything that happens for cycling, has kind of made this whole, I don't know, split more important than it would have otherwise been. Carlton Reid 20:24 Yeah. And like in the Netherlands, the the organization's tried to fight against this, but the government tax cyclists, and cyclists actually paid for the roads. Laura Laker 20:34 They did, that's right. Carlton Reid 20:37 But it's the very fact and this was a cyclist at the time were fighting against, they didn't want to be taxed. In the UK, and the Netherlands, they were taxed. And then cyclists became national infrastructure. And that became critical, as you say, and the fact that you know, there wasn't, there was some national infrastructure, obviously, I've done this the 1930 cycleways project. But the CTC is the British Cycling as of the time fought against all of this, they fought against taxation, they fought against cycle routes. And so there is there is some argument to be made that cyclists have been their own worst enemy. So I know in the book, you're saying, you know, it's just such a no brainer. And it is to back, you know, for want of a better word or phrase active travel. Now, in the book, you've got various people are saying we should call it something different. Laura Laker 21:27 Yeah, Lee Craigie. Carlton Reid 21:27 yeah. Yeah. But, you know, cycling has been difficult, at the same time. And it's like, what's happening in Wales, and in Scotland, is inspiring, possibly, because it's actually coming from above. A lot of it, you know, there's obviously enthusiastic people working on the ground, etc. But a lot of this is coming from government ministers. So that helps. Yeah. And, Laura Laker 21:54 I mean, we have this idea, and I'm sure we're not alone. And this point you just made and the example of the taxing of the cyclists in the Netherlands, which is something I learned during doing the research for the book, I didn't actually know about this, but I, you know, the reason we lost the railways that then became a lot of these greenways was because, you know, we see transport as needing to wash its own face needing to fund itself. And the railways at the time, were losing money for most of the routes. And so that was the reasoning. And, you know, with roads, obviously, drivers are taxed it's not sort of ring fence funding. It's not a road tax, it's, but you know, it is making the Treasury money and cycling has never really done that. And I, I think fundamentally, the way that way of thinking about transport is wrong, because of the benefits, the much wider benefits that transport gives us in terms of, you know, being able to access education and health and social opportunities and for our physical and mental health. And it's, its benefits span far beyond its own kind of silo. But we don't really see it that way. And I'm not really sure actually, if anywhere managers to think of it this way, but I think post pandemic, things like free bus services and in different countries has maybe illustrated that people are starting to think about it differently. But ultimately, I think it's it's a very tricky one. Because like you say, we in a way we weren't, we were own worst enemy in terms of our predecessors in the cycling world. But we were working within philosophy that's that dictated that actually, if you're going to build something, you know, who's making money from it, or, you know, how is the Treasury getting that investment back and not really seeing it as this makes people healthier? Or this gives them opportunities or promotes businesses, local tourism? And all of this? So yeah, I mean, if we'd done it differently, who who knows of cyclists in the UK? So fine, we'll pay a tax. Who knows? We might have an NCN now, but, and even today, it's a little bit of an uncomfortable conversation, isn't it? Because, you know, nobody wants to be taxed. Carlton Reid 24:02 So the book is, it's a polemic in many ways, not not all the way through. But there are definitely bits in there that are strident. And I cannot argue with at all I'm reading it nodding along. And certainly the bits about like the national infrastructure, right, and it's all being spent on roads. And it's it's the so many reasons why that is crazy. Yeah, and why spending even just a fraction of the roads budget on on a national cycle network, you know, genuinely joined up one high quality would bring many more, many more benefits. And then you've got and the irony is, and I did a new story on this is, you have a government minister, who has written the foreword to your book, and he said This is not government minister, a former government minister, a former Transport Minister, Jesse Norman, and then it's like, why don't you do this when you're in power? It's great. You've said it. It's wonderful that you're saying all these things. But you could have done this, you could have pushed for this. And he was also the Financial Secretary of the Treasury. Yeah, he could have released money. Yeah, let me see what he says. But Laura Laker 25:26 it's so difficult, isn't it? And it's, again, it's kind of facing it's the status quo. I mean, it's, I think, maybe important to remember, and I'm not making excuses for anyone. But, you know, he was a junior minister, certainly in his first round is cycling minister. And so he would have had to tow the party line. So I don't know how easy it is for. I mean, he's a very intelligent guy. He cares about cycling. But then he's part of a system, which ultimately, I guess, maintains the status quo doesn't want to upset the applecart. And that's why, in the manifesto, I, you know, I think it's so important that people speak up for these things, because I think until there's an outcry for it, it's very difficult for any one minister, unless we have a cycling Prime Minister, to change all of this. There's a lot of vested interests in maintaining, you know, roads for cars, keeping car manufacturing, going and, you know, taxation on cars is going to be very problematic, because obviously EVs electric vehicles don't pay, you know, drivers with EVs don't pay cortex. So what's gonna happen there? But yeah, I mean, it's difficult, but I think people need to speak up for this kind of thing. We get a lot of kickback pushback from people when there's cycle routes coming. But those are the minority. And one thing I tried to highlight in the book is that most people want this once cycling routes, they they want other options and to drive. And, you know, between two thirds and four fifths of people in representative polls say that they'd support this and many of them, even if it meant taking road space away from motor vehicles. But that's not what politicians listen to. And I think increasingly, politicians are listening to angry people on Twitter. And you know, if Mark Harper's comments about LTNs and 15 minute neighbourhoods is anything to go by, which was straight out of the kind of conspiracy theorists, Twitter playbook, you know, they're listening to the loudest voices. And I think until people say, you know, we actually want choice. We don't want to have to breathe polluted air, we don't want to have our neighbourhoods dominated by motor vehicles. We want our kids to be able to go to school safely. I think it's gonna be difficult for things to change. Carlton Reid 27:45 Hmm. So you have mentioned a variety of routes that are actually pretty good. So yeah, Keswick one is one of them. Laura Laker 27:55 Threlkeld, yes. Carlton Reid 27:58 And that's why I know, I know the route well, as good as now, you know, a cycleway there because that was that was long in gestation. But basically, it's it's it's, it's popular. You know, people say, oh, like, but that's a popular route now, isn't it? Laura Laker 28:15 Yeah, yeah, people drive there. And I mean, that was that was interesting for a number of reasons. I mean, incredibly beautiful. It sort of weaves through Greta gorge, which is just this kind of just this amazing landscape, this sort of rocky river which meanders through this very deep wooded valley. And it's on a former rail line. And it was, which storm was it was it 2015, there was a big storm, which basically crumbled a couple of the bridges with the sheer volume of water that ended up going through this narrow gorge. And then it was out of action for a couple of years. And that was an important, crucial route and a tourist attraction for local businesses. One pub owner apparently offered the local council, I think it was the national parks something like 30 grand out of his own pocket, reopened the route, but it was actually a sort of 2 million pound job. So that wasn't going to go all the way. But you know, this was a really important tourist attraction for people and people drive there because there aren't safe routes to get to and from the ends, so people drive and park and then cycle along it and cycle back. But yeah, it's popular, it's really popular. And they when they put the bridges, the new bridges in Sustrans with various parts of funding, they resurfaced it and there was a big hoo ha about putting tarmac on instead of the gravel that had been there before. But that actually opened up it up to far more people, including people who use wheelchairs and mobility scooters, because any sort of rough surface or uneven ground can tip someone in a wheelchair and it effectively makes these routes unusable. And this is something that I really learned in the book and feel very strongly about now. And there was a big outcry nationally about tarmacking this path because it's in the Lake District and everyone's He has an opinion about the Lake District even if they've just been there once and we all feel like we own it because it's such a beautiful place and I guess rightly so. We all care about it. Carlton Reid 30:07 The Lakers. Laura Laker 30:09 Lakers, my people. Yeah. The people who holidayed in the lakes were known as the Lakers. Yeah, which is brilliant. So yeah, they, you know, they held their ground and they tarmac it and you know, the numbers increased drastically. And this story plays out all over the country, wherever there's a improve surface on a path. Suddenly, it's open to everyone. And this is what this is what cycle rich should be in, in my opinion, it should be open to everyone. Carlton Reid 30:37 Yeah, it's like the cinder path. That's the Sustrans route national cycling group from from Whitby to Scarborough. That was the one that had a load of of people complaining because Cinder path you know, they were going to be tarmacking just parts of it. And lots of people are saying you know but this this this will you know, destroy it or whenever lots of yobs in and it just never got done. And then it's it's impossible for a lot of the year because it's just it gets just too rutted into mud into too horrible. And this is, you know, we discard it would just be so easy. You know, between these two conurbations and small conurbations, if you could ride there on an all year round an all weather path? Laura Laker 31:21 So yeah, I do. I do worry about this, because it's, you know, they say it's an effect gentrification. And you're you're bringing, you know, urban into the countryside yet. There's roads everywhere, and they got tarmac on, and nobody seems to be kicking up a fuss there. What's What's your problem? Yeah, I know. And I think it's just we have this idea about what the cycle routes should be or could be, and we see them as leisure routes quite a lot of the time, we have this kind of set idea about cycling, that it's not, you know, it's not a commuter option, or, but you know, it is, but it goes beyond that. And it is about who can access these parts. And quite often, having an uneven surface will lock a lot of people out. And you know, we're an ageing population in this country. And as we get older, we will all have disabilities, and mobility issues. And it shouldn't be that you know, these paths are any open to a few people. But yeah, it's a difficult one. And we would like to say we've never think twice about it for roads, we've never think about having a road as a dirt path. And I can you know, visually tarmac is not a beautiful thing, but I think if people understood that actually, it's it's not just about the visuals. This is about people and this is what these parts are for they're for people. Carlton Reid 32:34 Well you can make if you want it to be just that colour, you can make the the asphalt you can you can you can dye the asphalt. So it's it's more expensive. But you can you can do all sorts of treatments you can do to make it all weather doesn't have to look, you know, black. Yeah. So anyway, so let's go to another assessment. That's some negative ones. Where they tried to be certain, but then you point out the Polgate one, between Polgate and Glynde, which is almost happened to you by by mistake. Not mistake, but it's certainly a by accident. Yeah. And you're talking about it being just brilliant. So describe that one. Laura Laker 33:11 That's amazing. Yeah. So I was told about this. And then I know someone who lives in Lewis, which is at one end of it. And so we we we met at the station and cycled along this path. And so it's beside the A27, which is a national highways road. And it's right by the sales downs, which is hugely popular with cyclists. And basically, there were so many people cycling on this incredibly terrifying road. It's one of those narrow and winding A roads with huge volumes of traffic. I mean, I went on a walking trip near Louis the other day, and I had to cross it with no crossing and it was it was genuinely terrifying. I can't imagine people cycling on it, because it's, you know, six months. So yeah, anyway, people were being held up in their cars because of people cycling. And so national highways decided it was going to build a path alongside and it's this this was a real eye opener for me because they had done what needs to happen around the country. They had built a path behind the hedge row, which is wide and tarmac and smooze with lots of planting and culverts and bridges over rivers and and they just laid it you know, very little problem. I don't know if they owned the land or perhaps compulsory purchase probably a mixture of I think it was a mixture of both. And so they built this amazing kind of 10 kilometre joyful route, which is just you know, it's just like a road. It's like no stress. You just carry on. There was someone on the mobility scooter the day I was there, a couple of people on bikes, but it was basically hadn't opened yet. And yeah, it was just there. But it's quite funny because at either end, it just stopped because then that's the local councils job to kind of deliver it beyond. But you know, it shows what's possible if you have a national body with the power and the funding, and they have, you know, multi year funding pots which helps plan and deliver this stuff and they just did it, they just sort of swept aside all of the normal problems that I talked about in the book that usually dog these cycle routes. And yeah, it's quite, it was quite marvellous, quite Carlton Reid 35:11 I found it fascinating because one of the things you say is, as we just mentioned there, it, it was an effective bill to get the cyclists off the road. We made enough nuisance of ourselves, that is 1930s to a tee, you know, the transport, you know, built those 500 miles of cycle tracks in the 1930s to Dutch standards laced around the country. Some of them weren't brilliant, but some of them were amazing, you know, 12 foot wide Dutch Dutch level, concrete curbs, you know, perfectly brilliant bits of cycling infrastructure that are now just some of them are white elephants, because they didn't link up to anywhere. But, you know, the government at the time said, Oh, we're doing this for the safety. No, they weren't they were doing it to you know, get cyclists on the road because we're slowing down motorists, but you kind of almost don't care if if if you get a really superlative route behind the hedgerows. Yeah. Okay. It's such a difference. Yeah. That's the difference. It's got to be good. You can't just fob you off with shared route pavement, which is what yeah, the criticism of Sustrans has been is like there's so many shared route pavement. And that's why Sustrans got a bad rap, even though it wasn't their fault. And they were just trying to fill in the gaps. Laura Laker 36:28 That yeah, yeah. And yeah, they just have to use whatever was there, which was quite often a pavement along what would have been a not too busy road in the 70s or 80s. But it's now a sort of thundering highway and being on a pavement with no barrier between you and or no, no sort of space between you and the 60 mile an hour traffic is far from pleasant, and no, no, no parent is going to choose to cycle on that. If they have any other choice, you know, they're going to avoid that like the plague because you know, one little wobble or mistake and then you know, it's horrific there, you know, possible outcomes. But yeah, it's you know, it's, it's fantastic. Because you don't even barely know the roads there. It's just cool. It's just gorgeous. I'd like to go back actually, because it's been a good year, I think since I saw it. At least actually. Maybe Yeah, I think it's at least a year and yeah, let's see how the trees are bedding in and because it was brand new at the time it just been done. But yeah, it is. Ultimately it is possible. And regardless of the motivations it just goes to show what's possible. I liked recently because Andy Streets and his Walking and Cycling Commissioner Adam Tranter he's on my podcast. They announced they're going to deliver the HS2 cycleway alongside in and around HS2 between Coventry and Birmingham. And when they get to Kenilworth, they're basically connecting up to one of their 1930 cycleways into Coventry. So I quite like that, you know, it's sort of linking something that's already there. And Carlton Reid 38:01 yeah, and that's also a John Grimshaw project, wasn't it? That was that was a John Grimshaw. Laura Laker 38:05 Yeah. He cycled the whole thing. Yes. Yes, he's been he's been trying to get that one, you know, for a lot for a long time. And yeah, it does stand alone. No, you need really, you need the HS2, of course, just stand alone without it. Carlton Reid 38:21 It does. Yeah, saying that, it would have absolutely been put in at the same time, that would not have been the difference. So that is point three. So in your 10 Point manifesto, that's basically work together a behind the hedgeroq Act, compulsory purchase orders, all these kinds of things that only government can do. Yeah. needs to be brought in into play. Yeah. And then you you've said and it's very ambitious. But when you think about it's like, yeah, you could do this easily. And that is you know, if if this was done and if money was provided, and compulsory purchase orders were put in like you would do for roads, you can have an unbelievably fantastic truly superlative national cycling in four years. Laura Laker 39:02 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Brian Deegan active travel England reckoned reckoned on this, because, you know, they have such a huge amount of power and to take go to build a cycle, which basically takes three years generally you do you have a year to kind of plan it a year to consult and tweak and then a year to build it. And for that you need multi year funding, because without that, you can't plan anything, basically. And that's why we've ended up bits and bobs of improvements, because it's like, you get the money, you have to spend it pretty much immediately. But yeah, I mean, the amount of funding a body like national highways has would be enough to you know, link these existing routes. Sometimes there are quiet roads, you know, I guess, in the Netherlands, you have through roads and access roads, things like low traffic neighbourhoods, in the countryside. That is a that is a kind of measure that you can do. And some of it it doesn't all have to be Are these sort of high quality pieces of massive engineering cycle routes, either behind the hedge row or on main roads? Some of it can just be tweaking kind of existing infrastructure so that it's not not every road as a through road. But yes, it's some it's amazing. And I kind of did a double take when I heard this. But when we put our mind to something, it's amazing what's possible. Carlton Reid 40:24 And potentially, we will see the fruits of this in Scotland, and Wales, Scotland, Wales are putting in some really ambitious stuff. And Mark Drakeford going, you know, will they backtrack on the 20 mile limit? And will they, you know, reverse a lot of stuff that Lee Waters that all this kind of stuff is potentially up in the air? We don't know yet. Yeah. But Scotland does seem to be, you know, putting their money where their mouth is, you know, that the amount of money that's going in there, per head, dwarfs what we see here in England. So the potentially you've got, you've got like, in five years, you could have something incredible. In Scottish cities in Glasgow. Yeah. You're talking about Glasgow? Laura Laker 41:09 Yeah. And yeah, Glasgow was amazing. I mean, that was the first time I'd been to Glasgow, on that trip. And I was blown away, actually. So they're developing a city wide network of routes, they're lowering in bridges across, they've got this very kind of, I guess, I guess they had this, at the time, they were building roads, they had a very ambitious programme of building like highways. And maybe that's about the culture of the city that when something comes along, when an idea comes along, they kind of embrace it. Whereas Edinburgh has historically been much more conservative. And so when, when highways when sort of urban highways came along the bond level load of those, and now cycling is seen as this big sort of saviour of health and climates and all of these important things, they're going all out on cycle routes, which is fantastic. And yeah, I was really blown away by what they're doing really high quality protected routes with planting alongside, you know, for extreme weather, it's really important to have permeable and green planting on tarmac. And, yeah, and these beautiful bridges and this massive bridge that I saw, and you know, they're really, really ambitious, I think, I've got a piece coming out about Edinburgh in the next week or so. And it talks about the difficulties that Edinburgh has faced very, very different than the city very conservative. But similarly, it's had a huge amount of funding. And I think they're finally getting to the tipping point there where they're starting to deliver real change, you know, hopefully. But yeah, it's, you know, the money's there, I think there's still difficulties with politics. So they've got these active freeways, which would be a kind of National Cycle network for Scotland, these rural routes, you know, the plan is there, or at least the idea is there, but it's not being rolled out yet. So who knows what's going to happen with that, but definitely, the funding and having that long term funding does make it much easier. I'd really love to see Scotland, you know, doing big things. And I think Scotland and Wales have been very, very forward thinking and a lot of things got maybe Scotland particularly, and more consistently than Wales, because as you say, there's a bit of a question mark. Now over Wales, they've, you know, they had the active travel act, they arguably took term coined the phrase active travel with the active travel act about a decade ago. And yeah, but stuff, you know, they have the policy, they had the money, but again, it's very, very slow to change. And I don't know, maybe they maybe if Westminster were a bit more proactive and supportive, it will be easier, who knows, but you're always going to come up against these kinds of difficulties, local politics and stuff, but I think money talks, you know, the money's there for it local investment, which Council isn't going to want public realm improvements, and you know, health. Carlton Reid 43:49 Money is number one, in your manifesto, so it's funded, and okay, we get the money from it. Here's what you say, stop expanding road capacity, and we have delivered a comprehensive network of cycling and walking routes. Hallelujah. Yeah, exactly. It's just like, you know, we've got so many roads, why can't we have more and more and more and more, as we know, it just fills up with traffic if we're gonna have build it and they will come Okay, let's do it for bikes. Now. You know, roads have had eighty years of this, let's have 10 years for for bikes, but walking and . It's just, it's a no brainer. And the LTNs thing kind of like it's so frustrating. Because we're only talking like a few streets. We're not we're not talking. That's when you hear you know, the the shock jocks you'd think is every single road in the country is going to be catered and you're going to hand it to cyclists. That's, that's how it's portrayed. And we're actually you know, maybe maybe a fraction of 1% of roads. really, genuinely is all too Talking about is currently got anyway. Yeah, having safe cycle routes, you know, don't get it get blown up by us people like us journalists, Laura, we're to blame for misrepresenting this. That's that's, that doesn't say good things about our profession, does it? Laura Laker 45:22 No. And I think I think I mean, it speaks to the kind of economics of journalism that, you know, people want eyeballs on stories nowadays because it's that's what makes advertising revenue funding for journalism is fallen off a cliff. And I think this is sort of desperation about the industry at the moment. But, you know, I think it's important to remember that the people shouting against this stuff are a minority, and most people want this stuff or are willing to try it and see, and most of us want quiet, safe streets, we want our kids to be able to play out in safety, we want clean air, we want, you know, peace and quiet. And I think because we haven't seen it, a lot of cases, it's difficult to imagine. But you know, ultimately, these things happen. There's, there's a pushback from a handful of people who are noisy, but I think if we have conversations about, you know, what we could, what we could get from these improvements from these schemes, then it's much positive way of talking about it. Of course, that's not how news works. And I think that's why we need leaders who are willing to sort of look beyond that short period in which a lot of journalists are shouting, and a few people, some of whom have genuine concerns and need to be listened to a shouting and listen to them. But you know, this is something that people want actually, and, you know, the benefits so enormous. Once it's happened, I don't think people would want to go back. Carlton Reid 46:46 Yeah, this is the thing. It's like, a good example is Northumberland Street and Newcastle, which is a pedestrianised street used to be the A1, you know, really the central state through the centre of Newcastle. It's I think, outside of central London, Mayfair on Oxford Street. It's the highest grossing per square foot retail zone in the country, because it was pedestrianised. And it just made it easier. And nobody in their right mind would say, we need to make that the a one again, guys, you know, let's get the cars and buses soaring and you just wouldn't do it. But Newcastle spent the best part of 20 years doing this, it wasn't an overnight thing. We had to spend a long time, a lot of angst getting it done, but nobody would wish it away now. And that's what when we're not getting with all these LTNs and all these cycles, if only if we put them in, nobody would complain about them. Not really not once they see it, it's just if people don't like change. Laura Laker 47:47 yeah, none of us like change just a thing. And it's hard to picture. And I think it's easy to dismiss people's concerns. Because you know, it's normal for us not to want change, it's normal to be concerned about something if you can't picture it. And you're, you know, many of these are genuine worries about businesses, and how will I get from A to B and, and all of this, but yeah, I think what's been lacking in this conversation is just some sort of grown up honesty about, you know, this is going to be a change. But ultimately, it's going to be one that's positive for these reasons. We, you know, we are going to listen, but ultimately, this is a an agenda that most of us support. And we know it's beneficial for these reasons. And I think we've I don't know, I think there's too much government in this country, and in many English speaking countries, kind of almost government by fear of what the Daily Mail might say, in response to this policy. And even the the recent announcement by governments about you know, stopping anti motorist measures was all caps. You know, it was like almost a Daily Mail headline. Carlton Reid 48:52 Yeah, it's quite scary and sad. Yeah. But then, you know, like you say, if you know, for the ones that hold their ground, you know, stuff dies down, people say actually, that actually is much better. So you know, where I'm coming from, I know where you're coming from. And you're saying people want this, but I'm gonna play devil's advocate here and say, Well, no, they don't people want to drive around. And if you're a woman at night, and you describe a lot of the routes, the Sustrans routes, the Nationals, you wouldn't want to go there at night, and probably no matter how much lighting security whatever you put in, you probably would still feel that way. In. Yeah, yeah. On a bicycle, you're not protected. Whereas a car, a woman, a single woman can get into a car can lock the door, can maybe have, you know, dark windscreen even so nobody knows who's in there. You then become this powerful individual who can get around in safety at the end of the day. But bicycles aren't like that, Laura. So you're you're basically making it more insecure for women to go about as independent beings. Laura Laker 50:11 Well, so as a as a woman who cycles on her own at nights that that route from Arnhem to Nijmergen in the in the Netherlands, so I ended up leaving that event and it was dark and cycling home on my own however far it was, it's a good hours ride along these routes, but because you don't have to stop, you actually feel safe. It's only when you have to stop that you start to feel unsafe in my experience. I mean, there's certain routes like along the canal, I live in East London, along the Li River that I have cycled at night, but wouldn't do now. Because you know, that is very isolated. And people have been known to jump out with bushes. But I think for the large part, if they're well designed, and other people are using them, then cycling at night for me isn't a problem. You know, you're moving you're Yeah, I don't Yeah, I very rarely felt in danger of cycling through London at night, for example. I mean, it's been the odd park where I felt a bit sketchy, but I think if you design them, well, not every path is going to feel that way safe at night. But I think in urban places where a lot of people will be cycling to and from at night, it will probably be fine. I mean, you probably feel quite safe. It's about kind of eyes on the streets in a way having people they're with you. Yeah, and I think if a route were well used enough, and don't forget, you know, if you're, if you're, you know, you're not going to necessarily, you're not going to drive home after a night out if you've had a drink. And so you will have to sort of walk a section of your journey. Most likely, if you're in a place like London, you hate taking public transport, maybe you take a taxi, but I feel I don't feel like if I'm on a busy road, walking alone at night that I am safe with those other people around me because I don't feel like people who are driving through again to necessarily stop and help me if something did happen. So I think kind of busy streets can feel unsafe, even though they're very highly populated. And, you know, theoretically, and this kind of, there's been research on this, you know, people who live on quiet streets, no more of their neighbours, this sort of social safety element, and people start looking out for each other. Whereas if you have a traffic dominated environment, it's people tend to turn away from the street. Carlton Reid 52:28 Yeah, I don't disagree. But if it is looking at the motivation of many, many people, I mean, humans are generally lazy. Yeah. They generally want comfort. They want their own things, and they want security, all of those things you have in spades in cars. The downside is, because everybody wants that. And everybody's in a car, it means you don't get anywhere. Unknown Speaker 52:57 Yeah, I don't think that's a whole story. I mean, I think a lot of the time people drive because the alternative is either aren't there don't feel possible, or they don't feel safe. So cycling on the road wouldn't feel safe, you wouldn't even most people wouldn't even consider it. But we've seen I grew up in rural West Somerset, and you had to learn to drive as soon as you turn 17, you would take your test, you buy a car, and you drive everywhere, because the buses mean the buses are even worse. Now. They were okay at the time, but not great. But they just took longer, and you couldn't get everywhere you needed to go my friends as a teenager lived in variable kind of communities. And so you had to drive there was just no other option I would have loved to cycle. And you've seen in London, where we've got a growing network of roots, suddenly, all these people from all walks of life, all kinds of demographics. Laura Laker 53:48 genders, you see a much better one gender split, but also all types of people cycling. And that kind of speaks to the fact that actually, people do want to do this and they may want to convenience but they also want to enjoy their journey. They also want to save money. Cycling can be incredibly convenient, no parking worries, it's so much cheaper you know you don't have to stress of finding a parking space or you know, paying vast amounts of money. I think something like I forget the number who in transport poverty in this country because of cars basically. They spend something like 19% of their income on their car with finance lorry, using facts to convince me that's Carlton Reid 54:36 Anybody can convince with facts, come on. At that juncture, I'd like to go across to my colleague David in America. Take it away, David. David Bernstein 54:45 This podcast is brought to you by Tern Bicycles. Like you, the folks at Tern are always up for a good outdoor adventure by bike—whether that's fishing, camping, or taking a quick detour to hit the trails before picking Unknown Speaker 55:00 up the kids from school. And if you're looking to explore new ground by taking your adventures further into the wild, they've got you covered. The brand new Orox by Tern is an all-season, all-terrain adventure cargo bike that's built around the Bosch Smart System to help you cross even the most ambitious itinerary off your bucket list. It combines the fun of off-road riding in any season with some serious cargo capacity, so you can bring everything you need—wherever you go, whenever you go. Plus, it's certified tough and tested for safety so your adventures are worry-free. With two frame sizes to choose from and a cockpit that's tested to support riders of different sizes, finding an adventure bike that fits you and your everyday needs has never been easier with the Orox. Visit www.ternbicycles.com/orox (that's O-R-O-X) to learn more. Carlton Reid 56:04 Thanks, David. And we are back with Laura Laker the Laker people. And she's the author of potholes and pavements a bumpy ride on Britain's National Cycle network. It's not actually out yet, isn't Laura. It's actually middle middle of the next month, middle of night. Hmm. Yeah. So you having a launch day what you're doing? Laura Laker 56:28 Yeah, I've got some. You've got like, You got speaker a bank and tell us tell us what you're doing? Yeah, so I've got I'm having like a bit of a party for some friends and family. And then I've got a talk in Stanford's in Covent Garden. I'm speaking in Parliament. But I think that's more of a parliamentary event. And I have got an event at Stanfords in Bristol with Xavier Bryce, we're going to discuss the future of the NCN. I've got one I'm speaking in Oxford, at a bookshop. I'm going to be interviewed by Emily Kerr, who's a green Councillor there. I have got a there's a literary festival in Wantage in November. And we're looking at other events as we speak. Carlton Reid 57:16 Excellent. And this is two hundred and .... All right, I'm going to deliver the end of the book. We're talking 264 pages, and then you've got references back. I mean, one of them. Thank you very much. Laura Laker 57:32 Yeah. Carlton Reid 57:34 Thanks. as well. Yes, at the back there, but there's, there's lots in this. So who's gonna be? Who's your audience? Who's gonna be reading this? Who do you think will be reading this? And what might actually could it start something big with with in politics? Can we could we get this like your manifesto? Can it get out there? What do you hope to happen with your book? Laura Laker 58:00 Yeah, well, obviously, I want everyone to read it. I mean, my editor at Bloomsbury was saying, you know, it's probably going to be cycling enthusiasts, people who I guess already, maybe listen to your podcast, my podcast, read our articles about cycling. But I would like to think that you know, these people, these two thirds to four fifths of people who want more cycling people who think, you know, why do I have to drive everywhere? Why aren't there safe cycle routes? Why can't my kids cycle to school, and see that might see this book and think, Oh, this is going to tell that story, this is going to explain it to me. And so I hope that it's going to give people a sense of kind of why we are where we're at, with the history of the NCN and the stories, but also, you know, how wonderful it could be if we had this thing, this network of connected routes, if it were possible for all of these people who say they want to cycle and more who maybe don't even know they want to cycle could do so. And I hope that, you know, my perhaps naive hope is that people will read it and think, you know, this could be such a wonderful thing, why aren't we doing it? And how can we get it to happen and I hope policymakers you know, we've got an election coming up I think this speaks to you know, forget the culture wars. I think this speaks to all sides, you know, of politics, I think, you know, individual freedom and choice is a conservative value, right? Cycling, cycling delivers on that. Carlton Reid 59:26 Cycling is so libertarian is a form of transport I've had many conversations This is freedom. Why is this left wing? Why do people always assume it's just this thing? Laura Laker 59:42 Yeah, it's become a cultural thing. And it's only for I think, you know, certain factions of the right perhaps see this as a wedge issue. And a way of you know, rallying people around them on based on kind of outrage like false outrage really, untruthes. and you You know, in terms of the left, this is, you know, great value for money, the Labour Party is very, very keen on showing they're working and proving to people that they can be trusted with the economy. It delivers on the green agenda, it's so beneficial in terms of cutting carbon emissions, it delivers on health, pretty much every department that we can think of this offers people access to work, you know, so many people who are out of work, especially in rural communities can't even afford to go and find work or stay in a job because the transport is too expensive, or it's too patchy doesn't go in and they needed to go. So there's like barely a thing that this doesn't touch. And I really hope that you know, along with kind of griping, which is, I hope not too much of the book, and the polemic side that this shows actually, you know, this is great for tourism, this is great for our mental health. This can bring us together, you know, it's about in Scotland, I saw that a cycle route can be a linear park, it can be about artwork and community. It can bring people together from different walks of life around a space. And, you know, cycling delivers on these things. And, you know, if we kind of dropped the culture was narrative, which is nonsense. You know, we could see all of these benefits fairly quickly and for very little money, and have a far better country for it. Carlton Reid 1:01:18 Many people would baulk at having Boris Johnson back. And you do mention this in the book of what he and Andrew Gilligan were able to do. Hopefully, it doesn't seem like I want him back. But will it that that is what you need. I mean, you do talk about having a cycling Prime Minister, we had a cycling Prime Minister, we had a Prime Minister who said it was me a golden age for cycling. So we need we need him back. Laura, that we just we need we need Boris back. No, we don't like that back there. Are there other other politicians are available? We just need people to believe in it. And you know, I hope that people read the book and think, actually, this is something we can believe in, but don't need one of the good things about Boris Johnson. Not only did he you know, talk, the talk, walk the talk, all that kind of stuff. But he was right wing. So he could he just instantly takes away that that part of this oversight is a left wing things like well, here's this right wing politician who's pushing for this Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph writer. These are not left wing people in any way, shape, or form. So is that what we need we actually need and then we'd like all politicians to do this, but by the same thing, you need somebody almost on the opposite side to be doing this, they've got more chance of pushing this through. So that's why Boris Johnson did so well, because he was right wing and the Mail isn't gonna, you know, rail against what Boris Johnson was doing. They never did. Laura Laker 1:02:46 They did though. They did. They totally did. I don't think they discriminated against him because he was towards their political leanings. I mean, it's unlikely we're going to have another conservative government, right, when we've got the election coming up, it's going to be Labour by all likelihood. And so they're going to be the ones in power delivering. So I don't know, Carlton Reid 1:03:09 But they backtracked over their green policies. I mean, what hope do we have? Laura Laker 1:03:12 I know I know. I know it's incredibly disappointing. And the thing is this this stuff like the green agenda, more broadly investment in insulating homes, for example, is such great return on investment and if they're thinking about finances and showing they're working insulating homes is just a total no brainer. You know, we all pay far too much for our energy bills. We live in draughty leaky homes. So many houses are mouldy because of the cold walls are damp Yeah, I just think you know, and green technology, huge growth industry. Solar and wind where you know, we're windy little island, but a lot of coastline. Offshore wind is fantastic. Carlton Reid 1:03:55 But in your in the book, you show how national highways basically is an organisation set up to build roads. And once you've done something like that, and that's their raison d'etre. Guess what they're going to build roads. Yeah. So yeah, it's that oil tanker you know having to put the brakes on and change a whole culture so we're not talking about you know, Cuz your manifesto is saying you know, stop funding this and yeah. Laura Laker 1:04:28 Wales did this basically with their no more roads or no more roads and less they increased active travel and public transport policy. They basically have kind of repurpose their national highways body around this agenda, you know, fill in the potholes. We've got a road in a dreadful state and, you know, develop use all their skills and power and funding for active travel. You know, public transport in this country is drastically underfunded. Buses are so important, especially in rural areas, especially people on low incomes, especially for women and Do you know buses are so important? We're really, really not kind of reaping the power the massive power of the bus.? Carlton Reid 1:05:08 Yeah, that's in your book as well, because you're talking about how buses, you know, need to be able to carry bikes. Yeah. And that's, you know, that's a small part of what they could do but the broader transport perspective that's that's so impor
After being at the forefront of British success for two decades, masterminding the development of superstars such as Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins and Tom Pidcock, Rod Ellingworth has left WorldTour to oversee the reboot of the women's and men's Tour of Britain. In an exclusive interview trackside at Manchester velodrome, Ellingworth reveals why he left Ineos Grenadiers, how he has a bold vision to grow British Cycling's national tours — and whether he'll be giving Dave Brailsford advice on who to bring off the bench at Old Trafford… Sandwiched between the pavé and the Giro d'Italia are the Ardennes Classics, hilly one-day races in the elevated lands of the Netherlands and Belgium, the setting this coming weekend for a heavyweight clash between Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel. In our preview of the weekend's major racing action, Ardennes Classics veteran Dan Martin, winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2013, tells us what makes these races so special and about the qualities required to win them. We also hear from Bahrain-Victorious's Pello Bilbao on how you go about beating Tadej Pogačar. While Van der Poel and Pogačar have been hogging the victories and the headlines at the very top of the sport, it's also become increasingly difficult to ignore the feats of 21-year-old Briton Joe Blackmore. Winner of the Tours of Rwanda and Taiwan, 4th against the big guns at Flèche Brabonçonne, and victorious again at the under-23 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Blackmore has just signed a 2-year contract with Israel-PremierTech. In our profile of this hugely exciting talent, we hear from Joe Blackmore himself, who tells us what kind of rider he sees himself as and about his motivations as a racer. In our regular feature on "Ways to Make Cycling Better", former pro and now EF Education-EasyPost team director Tejay van Garderen tells us why he'd like to see names and numbers on riders' jerseys. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Music provided by HearWeGo Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In episode 46 of our LeCorner Podcast, we had the opportunity to welcome Jon Dutton OBE, Chief Executive Officer of British Cycling, the governing body of Cycling in the United Kingdom. Jon engaged in a seamless conversation with LeCorner host and Chief Business Officer at LaSource Leander Monbaliu, taking us through his journey in sports, from fandom to the ambition of building a world of greater good by leveraging the power of sport, particularly cycling. Leading a national sporting federation's growth isn't unfamiliar territory for Jon, having occupied the same post for the Rugby League World Cup for over 5 years, where he gained most of his experience. During the conversation, Jon shares his thoughts on the cycling landscape in the UK, and the federation's responsibility and due diligence in promoting the sport at the grassroots level and at the national level, where athletes have a safeguarded and successful future ahead of themselves. In addition, Jon also sheds light on: ✅The roadmap of British Cycling, focusing on their strategic ambition for growth and their vision of bringing the joy of cycling to everyone✅The maturities of the sports of Rugby and Cycling and the parallels he has drawn having had a taste of working within both sports. ✅British Cycling's development and growth strategy leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympic games✅The Innovation Culture at British cycling and the measures taken to instil a fundamental, positive mindset within the organisation If you had a good time listening to this episode, do not hesitate to support us:1. By subscribing, it's just a tiny click2. By putting 5 stars on the Apple Podcast to help us spread it.Finally, if you want to know more about LaSource's activity, a small tour on our website and our Linkedin page never hurts: https://www.lasource.io and on our Linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joinlasource/LeCorner is a podcast dedicated to sports and digital. Every two weeks, we are pleased to receive a distinguished guest from the sports industry to talk about digital, innovation and strategic development.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Professor Steve Peters has more Olympic medals and world championships to his name than you can count, with accolades in sports from athletics to football, cycling and snooker. But here's the catch, he hasn't ever played these sports professionally. Instead, he's the ‘brain mechanic' behind the world's most successful teams and individuals, from England Football to British Cycling. In fact, Snooker World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan credits Peters with his success. His advice was incredible, and I can't wait for you to listen to this one. It is such an honour to have such impressive and intelligent people in my office for this podcast, so I hope you enjoy listening. The Chimp Paradox: https://chimpmanagement.com/books-by-professor-steve-peters/the-chimp-paradox/A Path Through The Jungle: https://chimpmanagement.com/books-by-professor-steve-peters/a-path-through-the-jungle/+Download Revolut for free and get £20 when you use your card! www.revolut.com/graceCashback subject to availability. Max £200 cashback per month. T&Cs apply. £20 Reward only available until 30th April 2024 and other T&Cs apply.+TALA:Website: https://www.wearetala.com/?utm_source...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetala/?...Need help? hello@wearetala.comSHREDDY:Website: https://shreddy.comNeed help? Support.shreddy.comTHE PRODUCTIVITY METHOD:Website: https://productivitymethod.com/Need help? https://theproductivitymethod.zendesk...+THE PRODUCTIVITY METHOD, SHREDDY and TALA are my own brands, therefore any mention of them - whilst not being a sponsorship - is monetarily endorsed. As usual, sponsorships do not change my opinions nor my honesty, but I will always disclaim to make sure motives are clear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Improve your biz using this unlikely technique learned from the British Cycling team. It helped them go from no-mark losers to yellow jersey winners + had their team mates clean up at the Olympics. It's super simple and you can start today. Click to find out more… Books mentioned in this episode: Click each title to see it on Amazon Tiny Habits – B J Fogg Atomic Habits – James Clear Do Great Work – Cal Newport Die Empty – Todd Henry And do check out Ron's Website – www.rontestercoaching.com ==== And don't forget to get your reading list of the 10 essential reads for every successful biz owner - these are the books Liz recommends almost on the daily to her strategy + Mastermind clients. This isn't your usual list of biz books, these answer the challenges you've actually got coming up right now. Helpful, quick to read and very timely. Click here lizscully.com/reading to get your book list
Matt Stephens has a fascinating chat with Rod Ellingworth about his impact on British Cycling and how that helped lead to the period of dominant success at Team Sky in the mid 2010's. The newly appointed race director for Tour of Britain explains how he had a holistic approach that valued the personality of the riders as much as their numbers, and shares some interesting stories about the likes of Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins. But how can such an intelligent man be so awful at quizzes?
I'm delighted to speak with David Horrocks this week. David is a coach educator and formerly head of R and D and part of the senior management at Manchester United Football Club. Over the years, David has engaged with many organisations such as British Cycling, Borussia Dortmund, The DFB, Milwaukee Bucks, Cricket Australia, London School of Contemporary Dance, Red Bull, and Inter Miami among others. David is also a consultant to Findel Education, Veo Technologies, Carleton University Canada, and Inspire Sports and is currently running an employee health and wellbeing program for up to 6000 workers with Cadent Gas in conjunction with Whoop technologies. The early part of David's career was spent in the corporate and government services world in technology. David has also led a paper “Preparation, structured deliberate practice and decision making in elite level football. The case study of Gary Neville (Manchester United FC and England)” and it's this paper we discuss.
In Episode 204 Gary chats with Colin Walker, head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, about the work he is doing removing, countering, and fighting misinformation around electric vehicles.We discuss EV fires, tyre and brake particulates, the state of EV sales and all the other tropes that publications like the Telegraph and Net Zero Watch appear to be pushing forward.Guest Details:Colin is Head of Transport at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit - a non-profit organisation that supports informed debate on energy and climate change issues in the UK.Colin joined ECIU in August 2022 from British Cycling, where he worked as the organisation's lead for London and the central regions for four years. Hi focus was on developing the sport, improving the diversity of participation in cycling, and realising the environmental and societal benefits of cycling as a means of transportation.Before British Cycling, Colin spent 15 years working in policy and advocacy in the charity sector – this included time at Save the Children, Mind, Which?, Warchild, and Plan International. @colinwalker79 on TwitterColin's WebsiteThis season of the podcast is sponsored by Zapmap, the free to download app that helps EV drivers search, plan, and pay for their charging.This episode is in partnership with EVA England, the member association representing EV drivers in England and making sure their views are heard and amplified. Join today and help accelerate the transition to an electric England: EVA England Season 11Links:Scientists Discovered Tiny Underground Minions That Transform CO2 Into Stone - Cool ThingSwitching to a renewable energy supplier - Carbon Literacy programme198 The FUDBusting Episode Episode produced by Arran Sheppard at Urban Podcasts: https://www.urbanpodcasts.co.uk(C) 2019-2023 Gary Comerford Social Media:Patreon Link: http://www.patreon.com/evmusingsKo-fi Link: http://www.ko-fi.com/evmusings EVMusings: Twitter https://twitter.com/MusingsEvand Facebook http://www.facebook.com/The-EV-Musings-Podcast-2271582289776763Octopus Energy referral code (Click this link to get started) https://share.octopus.energy/neat-star-460'So, you've gone electric?' on Amazon : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q5JVF1X'So, you've gone renewable?' on Amazon :
One of the most interesting trends in sleep is the growing number of hotels and hospitality centers that are embracing sleep as a primary focus for their patrons. Equinox Hotel in New York City has fully embraced the topic in almost everything they offer their guests from spa experiences to a room that goes "Dark, Quiet, and Cool" with the touch of a button. In this episode, we will:Highlight some efforts by hotels in the past to fold sleep into their servicesContrast the Equinox Hotel's massive exploration of ways to improve sleep with British Cycling's "Marginal Gains" philosophyTouch on hospitality research that supports their patrons wanting an enhanced physical environment, and better interactions/outcomes, and how focusing on sleep can achieve this goalExamine the physical space of the hotel room and understand how its appointments affect sleepGo beyond the hotel room to look at food menus, fitness club offerings, and spa treatments as means to improve sleepThink about the potential hotel/sleep industry partnerships with the hotel the ideal proving grounds for emerging sleep products and technologyProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!
Leaders' Editorial Director James Emmett and Content Director David Cushnan sum up the sports industry week, joined in the studio by British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton.They reflect on the first edition of the Greater Bay Area International Sports Business Summit, held last weekend in Macau, and a new positivity around China's relationship with sport. There's also time to examine the abandonment of the DFL's plan to find a private equity partner for the Bundesliga, challenger sports trying to make it in the USA and Apple's new scores app.Then Dutton discusses preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games; how British Cycling is restructuring at a time when the national governing body model is “distressed”; the different rhythm of leadership required at an NGB versus his previous role as CEO of the Rugby League World Cup; and commercialising the men's and women's Tours of Britain.
24th February 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 347: Richard Fletcher SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Richard Fletcher, Isle of Man TOPICS: LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://www.cycling.im https://www.bikestyle.im https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru1PYzU1k_w https://www.visitisleofman.com Carlton Reid 0:13 Welcome to Episode 347 of the Spokesmen cycling podcast. This show was engineered on Saturday 24th of February 2020. For David Bernstein 0:29 The Spokesmen cycling roundtable podcast is brought to you by Tern bicycles. The good people at Tern are committed to building bikes that are useful enough to ride every day and dependable enough to carry the people you love. In other words, they make the kind of bikes that they want to ride. Tern has e-bikes for every type of rider. Whether you're commuting, taking your kids to school or even carrying another adult, visit www.ternbicycles.com. That's t e r n bicycles.com to learn more. Carlton Reid 1:04 The plan was to record this interview while riding to Laxey on the Isle of Man with cycle guide and event organiser Richard Fletcher, pointing out the roads long used by fellow Manxman Mark Cavendish, but then weather! I'm Carlton Reid, and I was on the Isle of Man for the AGM of the British guild of travel writers. members could choose a one day fam trip activity. And while others chose spa and yoga retreats or cookery sessions, all indoors, I had asked to go cycling. I brought my road bike on the Steam Packet ferry from Heysham and was eager to hook up Richard with a radio mic and then chat, as we pootled along. The driving rain put paid to that idea. And after a bitterly cold two hour ride, we drip-dripped into a Douglas bike shop. Right. And I've just seen a photograph of you there that I took on the road, and you're smiling. But there's sleet. There's rain, there's basically we're riding through it almost a river coming up through to Douglas. So that was pretty grim out there. Richard Fletcher 2:23 Yes, as bad as it gets over here. But yeah, you're out on your bike. And there's the worst places to be. So as long as you don't do more than an hour and a half in that sort of that sort of weather, then it's fine. Right? Carlton Reid 2:35 So warmed up, we had a cup of coffee, and a bit of cake in Noa's bakery, and that's Noa. And next door to that is Bike Style. The bike shops who are now sitting on very nice sofas here, in in a nice bike shop. I'd like to say overlooking, you know, the scenic wonders of Douglas, but we can't actually see a great deal. And when we were out riding this morning, you you basically you took me out to some scenic places, but we didn't actually see anything. So just describe the ride that we did this morning. What would we have seen if it would be a beautiful day? Because we're kind of going towards Snaefell, weren't we? Richard Fletcher 3:12 Yeah, well, the hills, the route, we went on the hills all around it, basically. So and yeah, on a clear day, that's what you see. You can you can see the island from sort of side to side and top to bottom only when you're out it's particularly if you get some height. But today, because it's hilly, you get white-out effectively. So yeah, there's quite low cloud and you don't see a lot. But yeah, it would have been a nice ride if our view wise if it had been clear. Carlton Reid 3:42 Because we did get pretty damn cold out there today. So the route you were originally planning to take me on would have been towards Laxey Richard Fletcher 3:52 We'd have gone north of the east coast of the island. And you get some stunning views on the East coast. Well on all the coastal routes on the island, and the island basically has villages and towns dotted around the coastline. So as soon as you come in from the towns, you start climbing, and you go either over a hill into a valley and over another hill and back to the coast. The island is only 12 miles wide and it's been its widest point, and 36 miles long. So you can cross from coast to coast or top to bottom in a day. But there's lots of minor roads. I think some of the roads we went on. They were most of them were single carriageway roads to the benefit that is the nicer island because they're quiet, very little traffic. But yeah, it's just today was a rough day for it. Carlton Reid 4:42 So if we had done that ride, which we're planning to do towards Laxey would have basically written past Cav's house, yeah? Richard Fletcher 4:51 Well, he's born and brought up in Douglas and Laxey still has a house in Laxey. And Laxey's got a lot of history from it was an old mining village years ago not a big population there. It's people have a possibly have an impression of Cav that because he's a sprinter the same of the Tour de France with a sprint train that he's a rider for the flatlands but the he was born and brought up over here where you there are hills everywhere you go. And in his amateur racing, I think you see that that he's used to coping with that type of terrain. Carlton Reid 5:29 And tell me about Dot Tilbury because Dot Tilbury you're talking about basically before when we're in the coffee shop about a big funnel of riders. Then at the bottom, you would spit out these well known riders that we've all heard of. Richard Fletcher 5:42 Yeah, I mean, I've been cycling for 40. More well, more than 40 years and until Dot came around, and the cycling tended to be quite insular. And people would get into cycling because their parents had all their brothers or sisters. Dot started a children's league on a Tuesday night, more than 20 years ago now. And it started attracting more and more children into it, who weren't anything to do with the normal cycling scene. And within a relatively short space of time, it got to the stage where she was getting 200, then 250. And now 300 kids would turn up on a Tuesday night and be introduced to cycling as an activity. And that's been going on now say for over 20 years. And I'd say for a small population out the Isle of Man 86,000 people, that's the most directly cause of of the high standard of cycling because you use the word then there is a sort of wide funnel of kids becoming involved in cycling. And yes, there's when they get to 14, 15, 16. And all the distractions come around or other activities come around, particularly in this day and age where there's so many alternatives to to spend your time still a larger number drop out at the bottom of the funnel than would have if she didn't run that league. And I think she's the most direct link to the success of of elite cycling over here. I remember when did that exactly set that up? I don't exactly 20, 20 something years ago be more than 20 years Carlton Reid 7:20 Where Where does she where's that is it's just like an off road circuit? Richard Fletcher 7:24 It's on a perimeter road around the National Sports Centre. So it's about half a mile round pan flat. And it's like an oval, like a 600 metre version of an athletic track effectively, but it's tarmac. And they race round there on a Tuesday night, they start when they're almost just off balance bikes then through to when they're 16. And they that's where they get into cycling, and then as they get to the older age groups, and they then move into the more sort of traditional cycling. Dot also takes them away on trips. So they go to places like a day on the Manchester Velodrome they take part in the youth series that British Cycling runs. And we run around with that over here. So they get to perform on home soil as well. In fact that is coming up in April, this year, there'll be over 200 kids come from the UK, the best 200 Kids in the UK will come over to ride in the Isle of Man. And about 50 of Dot's kids will be in those races as well. Carlton Reid 8:32 Because you're one of the organisers of yeah, they used to it Richard Fletcher 8:36 I recently do, the youth has been running for 14 or 15 years now. And last couple of years, the organisers sort of change over time, became involved and become involved. So Emma Dyer who has been involved for many years and organising it Rob Holden, ex professional cyclist and myself are the three main organisers but it's a big team of people that put it together and it's closed roads Yeah, we get Road Club full road closure which is one of the USPS if you like of them coming to the Isle of Man that the kids aren't used to riding on closed roads they used to running on closed circuits around parks and things like that. And we get the national escort group guys come over so it's quite a an atmosphere for the kids the it's not to to France but it's sort of to ride on closed roads with national escort and we bring Tony Barry's neutral service cars over as well so they've they've actually got a almost like professional experience that they get and I think that's why I like coming over for it. Carlton Reid 9:39 And one of the ways you're able to close the roads is the Isle of Man government is pretty well used to closing roads for the TT so is that part of it? You can you they are used to closing roads? Richard Fletcher 9:53 Yeah, they are and there's an acceptance by the public there's always some resistance to close. as roads, whatever it's for, and we try and minimise that. But yeah, the sort of structures and the policies and laws are in place to help you do that. The TT happens has happened for 100 years. 1907. Yeah. That that's an established thing over here. What people probably don't know as much about is that at this, the bicycle TT started in the 30s. And it was, again, it was because they couldn't do it. on the Isle of Man; in the UK rather. So you had the I don't know, whatever the governing body of cycling was then. And you had a breakaway group called British League of racing cyclists. And they, they got together with the Isle of Man. And we ran one of the first big mass start races over here in the 1930s last century. And that for a time that became the biggest race in Britain for cycling, so you had top names like Tom Simpson, and all the big riders at the time came over and race the Isle of Man, the International, before in this sort of following the Second World War, Carlton Reid 11:12 when there was no nothing like that everybody was time trialling, yeah, famously and alpaca Yeah, you know, black alpaca going out in secret in the morning Richard Fletcher 11:20 Yeah, so the road racing scene was established, cycling was established then right, and then became Manx International Cycling Week, which ran through till 2003, which was a week long festival where we close roads for two the whole week for cycling. That went into decline mainly because people's habits changed. And they didn't want to take a week off from their work holidays to come to Isle of Man for cycling when Majorca and other places were, were beckoning. So now we tend to have smaller scale races, we had the we've had rounds of the British National series for seniors. So the premier calendar, we've hosted the national championships. And consistently we've run the National Youth and junior two sets around the British youth series and around the British Junior series, the Peter Buckley series, which it's still I still call it that. Peter Buckley was actually from the Isle of Man. And when the Commonwealth Games gold medal, and you're from the Isle of Man too, so you're a born and bred Manxman Yeah, I spent a little bit time off the island but mainly on the island. Yeah. My wife's from the UK. And my dad was from the UK. So it's, but yeah, it's been my home is here. Carlton Reid 12:40 And tell me a little bit about how you sort of semi funded Cav's early career with some cash, but indirectly. Richard Fletcher 12:51 Yes, that's my claim. And I don't think Mark would want to know about it or agree with it. But Mark's mother. For many years, Adele ran a dance workshop, not far from this shop, actually. And both my daughters did ballet. So I spent quite a lot of money on pointe shoes over the years with with Adele. And so I say that and that was about the time Mark was getting into cycling. So yeah, I must have contributed in a small way to Yes, Carlton Reid 13:16 yes. And he of course had a dance background at first. Richard Fletcher 13:19 I believe so. I think I think a lot more is made of it than that. But yeah, when I think he was nine or 10 or 11, I think he did some ballroom dancing. So I wouldn't be surprised if in the next three or four years, he appears on Strictly or something like that. Be a good candidate. Carlton Reid 13:37 And he's got a house, you said at Laxey. He's got houses dotted around, but one of them. One of them is certainly here. So he would be a known figure here. And I'm here, obviously for the the AGM of the Travel Writers Guild, and even you know, the top big wigs. And when we had our gala dinner, they mentioned Mark Cavendish. Yeah, you know, so he he's a known figure, quite apart from in the cycling scene, but he will appear and he will do local, local, right. He Richard Fletcher 14:10 He comes up frequently to see his Mum and Dad, who both live on the island. And yeah, when you see, he goes out with the local lads on both training rides, and you'll he'll, he'll pop up and do events as well. I run a sportif each year, and I haven't had any contact with him. But the British Cycling entry system that was used, the entries pop up in your email inbox and there's one M Cavendish OBE, who just paid his entry fee and rocked up like any other rider to it to just make a big thing about you made the day because he's turned up and he was late getting to the start and we sportifs quite relaxed. But when he got to start on when went round with the lads who were strong enough to ride with him, and he because he was They started you went past everybody in the event and it made the event all you could hear in the sort of coffee shop afterwards was because Cav passed me on this hill or Cav passed me here. So it's great, but he does. He just slots in. And I think I think I don't know, you have to speak to him. But I think he enjoys the fact you can just behave normally over here and go about his business without getting accosted for this, that and the other. So, Carlton Reid 15:23 So we're about on the roads before most of the people were getting with this wide berth. But we had a couple, and it was such atrocious weather. And they were coming past at speed. Yeah. And that wasn't that wasn't very nice. And you might have told one of the drivers they shouldn't have been doing. And that was it was a horrible close pass. So how much respect do you generally get? And could it be some of it down to you've got that funnel of riders, and you've certainly got somebody as famous as Mark Cavendish, that, you know, the big wigs talk about him? So might there be some, even if it's just a small bit of people's brains? Like why can't you know, close past those cyclists; one of them might be Cav and then I'm in the national news? Richard Fletcher 16:10 It's a bit subjective, my gut feel, because I do do quite a lot of riding off the island is my gut feeling. I think the drivers over here are a little bit more considerate than elsewhere in the in the in the British Isles is a bit subjective. But generally speaking, I think the overall rise in popularity of cycling, whether it's here or in the UK, has also contributed to maybe people being a bit more aware. I don't I don't think it's it's not malice of people in cars. I think it's it's ignorance of, of the fact they're inside us. steel box, and you're not. So it's not something that would ever I mean, I've been cyclists for many years, it's not going to put me off cycling anyway. But I think it is the it's still the main barrier to people taking up cycling who aren't experienced cyclists. So it's a bit of culture change people's personalities change when they get in the car. And then that's, I see to unbonded really, but no, it's not too bad over here. And the roads themselves because they're not big roads, people have to drive with a bit of care and attention most people to give you plenty of room. Carlton Reid 17:23 So, okay, well, a few seconds ago you said British Isles rather than the UK. So Isle of Man isn't in the UK isn't in the EU, ever. It's but it's part of the British Isles, and it's a crown dependency. There are different rules here. Because if you've got your own government and one of those rules, or lack of rules, is you can go as fast as you want in a car on certain roads. And that's partly maybe a legacy of the, the TT that's been going on. So if you've got this TT circuit, and even on Ordnance Survey maps, it says, you know, this is the TT course. But these are public roads. These are these are not not closed circuit at all apart from when it's running in June, and the roads are closed. So at those roads being no speed limits, means some drivers, not all of them for some drivers are going to be going crackers on those roads, because then you can overtake a policeman, police car 200mph nand they can't do anything about it. So does that mean cyclists avoid that, that course, that road? Richard Fletcher 18:31 There's only one section that most cyclists avoid. That's the what's called the mountain road. It runs through Ramsey over alongside Snaefell the only mountain on the island and drops down into Douglas. So whereas 20, 30 years ago I used to commute over that road. Most people would avoid it now and I would avoid now is because and there's a number of reasons for that. One is that yes. A lot of drivers do put the foot down when they get on a mountain road. There are safe passing places on the mountain road. If you were doing excessive speed and you took a police car, they would still pull you in because it's below there's no speed limit. It's allowing us to do art drive. Um, I'm not sure the legal definition but in a safe manner effectively. So it's not unlimited speed, it's driving to the road conditions and if you overtook them at 70 and it was misty, they put you in so it's them. There's there is some control over it. But particularly motorbikes because of the history. They like to really push it over the mountain. And it's so I wouldn't go up there on a bike now for two reasons. One, you can although we've got terrible weather today, and even in on a summer's day, the mountain in patches can be misty. So you could set off from Douglas or Ramsey in bright sunshine. And once you get above 1000 feet or whatever in the mist, and the speed differential between a car even not absolutely ragging over the mountain, and the bicycle going uphill is such that you be at risk of being hit from behind. Because the driver just wouldn't see you in time, Carlton Reid 20:17 Do motorists avoid it, do they also seem motorists to go I'm not gonna get that because Richard Fletcher 20:22 I mean, I say I lived in Ramsey and commuted to work in Douglas, for 20 years. And I could, I could probably drive the mountain road blindfold. But I do know some drivers and even taxi drivers who don't like riding, because the because it's the TT course there are no cat's eyes in the middle of the road. So it's actually quite a difficult road to drive in the mist. You need to know where the roads going up ahead. So yeah, there are some motorists avoid, as well. Carlton Reid 20:54 So that's a 37 mile stretch of, in effect, a triangle of roads that are marked on the OS map as the as the TT course. But the island has something like 688 miles, all other roads. So we're talking, you know, 640 Odd miles of other roads. Yeah. So that's something that right, avoid them. You don't have to sometimes use that road to link up with other things, you can always avoid it. Richard Fletcher 21:23 And the funny part is that the when we have bike races or their motorcycle races, there mountain road, because it's very, there are maybe three businesses on the mountain, or I think you went to one victory cafe, that they were allowed actually to close the mountain road with very little resistance, because they're alternative routes around the island for motorists. And there's not many people live in the mountain road. So it's it's actually a lot, it's a road you wouldn't use when the roads are open, it's for an event, you can often get a road closure on the mountain road quite quite easily because of that. But now the other road, most of the active cyclists, they wouldn't use a TT course because they are effectively the island's equivalent of sort of arterial roads. Most of the traffic is on those roads. But it means the roads the side I mean, we went on some of them today can't learn without being able to see where we were. But they're the roads that run alongside or crisscross those roads. And the traffic is fairly light. Still, we didn't have a chance to go up to the north of the island where it's the northern plane is flat. But that's where virtually all the local racing takes place. Now because there's very little traffic it's mainly just farmland, but farms and fields. Carlton Reid 22:48 At this point we'll cut to a break. Take it away, David, David Bernstein 22:52 This podcast is brought to you by Tern bicycles. The good people at Tern understand that while a large cargo bike can carry oodles of stuff, many of us prefer something a little more manageable. That's why they've come up with the HSD e-cargobike for folks with big aspirations to go car free, delivered in a compact size, with its rear shock, 280 kilos, and a combined hauling capacity of 180 kilos. The robust new HSD is stable and easy to manoeuvre, even when under load. And with its Bosch eBIKE SYSTEM tested and certified to meet the highest UL standards for electric and fire safety you'll be able to share many worryfree adventures with a loved one whether it's your kiddo or Nan. Visit www.ternbicycles. That's te r n turn bicycles.com to learn more Carlton Reid 23:52 Thanks, David. And we are back with Isle of Man Mr. Cycling, Richard Fletcher. So describe where maybe Kev or Pete Kennaugh where they would have ridden where would they go? Do you think would they have a standard training ride? Or would they mix it up? Richard Fletcher 24:09 No, they mix it up and I know Cav's thing that he doesn't like to repeat the same road on any training ride. I think he covered that when he did a piece over here with Matt Stevens. But they ride the ride all over basically. And you can it's for small island, there are a lot of roads, you can you can mix it up. And you tend to look at the weather and see which way the winds blowing and decide a new route then rather than have a planned route, but they will know both those two and any boys have been involved in cycling over here you get to know every road on the island basically. So Carlton Reid 24:51 you would link it up in your head and then just kind Richard Fletcher 24:54 of criss cross and go where the coffee is really Carlton Reid 24:59 and then Then on this trip, maybe they're just pulling our leg I don't know. But the bus driver everybody who's been talking to us on this trip has been stressing the folklore element of the Isle of Man, which I wasn't really terribly familiar with at all. So everybody is stressing, you know, you've got to when you go across the Fairy Bridge, you've got to say hello to the fairies. How much of this is would you tell that to the tourists? And how much of that is no people on the island genuinely, you know, believe in this stuff. Richard Fletcher 25:36 I don't know if I believe in it. A lot of a lot of the people buy into it. Carlton Reid 25:42 And why? Richard Fletcher 25:44 Because I'm I'm not one of those I'm not a superstitious person. But there is. I mean, there is a big Celtic background the history of the Isle of Man is interesting. So don't buy into all the folklore stuff. The background history of the island where the Vikings were heavily involved in the Isle of Man if you look at it geographic on a map, you can see that if you're military strategist, where would you base yourself if you want to rape and pillage all over the British Isles, you got the Isle of Man because you can bet your base here and strike out and hit violent Wales England or Scotland from it. So the Vikings were have a big influence on the islands. Longer history. And then because of that, the Scottish Lords got rid of the Vikings and then the Lords of Darby took over from the Scots. So there's a lot of not folklore that but there's a lot of good, meaty history about the island. The the other stuff? I don't know, I think it's it's the stuff about mythical creatures and fairies is, is probably because you then you've got a small island race basically. So you get myths and things from a an environment like that. But yeah, it's uh, it's, it sells a lot of gin. Yes. Carlton Reid 27:17 Definitely good stories. Yeah. And we've been given, you know, books of folklore. And so you've got to say, hello to the fairies Richard Fletcher 27:25 doesn't mean the other Celtic nations have similar things. So Irish, Irish methylene and Welsh and Scottish as well. That so there is quite a strong Celtic presence here. And there are quite, there's quite a lot of exchanges between, particularly in the arts around the Celtic side, so you've got them Normandy, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and they do get together, particularly in the art side and, and share the same sort of music and poetry and everything else. It doesn't overlap as much in into sport. Although we've got a really interesting event coming over here in July this year, called Pan-Celtic, which is like an ultra endurance event. And I was amazing guy, I didn't know anything about the event until earlier this year. And the guy who organised a guy called Matt Ryan, who lives in north Wales, the opening entries for it and had to close them within 48 hours later because he'd filled the field and it's people from all over the world coming. We completely coincidentally bumped into a German couple on a cycling holiday and they said Are you from Alabama? We're coming for the pan Celtic this year. And so they're flying in, mins booked to Gatwick and Gatwick to here to do this event that starts does 100 mile loop around the Isle of Man and they're getting on the ferry and they go off to Scotland right around there. Carlton Reid 28:59 You know the route and what they what are they doing loose route Richard Fletcher 29:03 it's about like it's about 1500 miles in total. It's one of these ultra distance the other man is strange and it's been set as the because we got very right it's been set as the first stage they've been classed as a time trial. It's not it is a race and it isn't a race it's a it's a race where nobody wins anything is the way that if the organisers describes it, but it's a personal challenge thing so when the clock starts normally on the pan Celtic it doesn't stop until you get to the very end whereas for this year because the argument is being used the first stage they don't do a ride through the night here and then get their morning ferry over to patient and then ride I think they go north then and ride around Scotland for the rest of it. But I'm seeing the rest of the room Carlton Reid 29:48 because normally on the pan Celtic it's if you get to the ferry port late well you're gonna get the ferry the next day and that's that's added to your time. Yeah, where is this one? And usually they're gonna stop the times there is like a time drive. Richard Fletcher 30:04 Yeah, because it's a three to four hour journey over I think so yeah, they're they've got they've got a big enough window the starting at seven o'clock on Saturday evening and they've got to do better thing is boundary and five miles. So the very least 8.45 next day so I can't see anybody missing that that they should have a little bit sleep actually Carlton Reid 30:27 do what route they're doing actually on yeah went Richard Fletcher 30:30 through the route with the organiser because he we've actually got another big cycling event the next day. So we needed to avoid clashing with that. And it basically does a big loop of the island round round the perimeter mainly but they cut into they've got the participants left some interesting clients did it as well they go burn the client pool faulty will, which is effectively going up the mountain it's not the mountain road TT causeway but it's the it's a, it's a nicer if you can have a nice climb, it's a nicer climb than the TT course one Carlton Reid 31:07 and they are avoiding the TT course completely. There's not not not hitting it at all Richard Fletcher 31:11 on it for about a mile. And that's it because when you get to the top of that climb, you actually go backwards along with TT good for you then go back into the interior. But that's that's fine. It's then it's the middle of summer it'll be the middle of the night when they get there as well. So there won't be a lot of traffic on that road. Carlton Reid 31:31 So that's it as you're saying before there's there's there's no cat size on that road. So that's a road that maybe people avoided that night anyway. Richard Fletcher 31:37 Um, yeah, this well. There are alternative routes. So yes, you will, they will fit in on if there's not misty then you would go that way. Because the quickest way from north to say, most direct way. But generally speaking in nighttime, it's quiet anyway. Carlton Reid 31:55 So last night, we had a talk from Milky Quayle. Who's one of these guys who who averages 186 miles an hour on his motorbike as he's going around the corner, sometimes hitting 200 miles an hour. And he was one of the questions I asked him was, you would die if you hit a pothole at 30 miles an hour, nevermind 200 miles an hour. So the local authority, the government must be pumping a huge amount of money into keeping that road. absolutely pristine. And there's never going to be a pothole on that road. However, does that mean that other roads, the roads, maybe the cyclists are on? Does that mean they're getting short shrift there because they're getting roads where there's gonna be potholes, and then all the money has been pumped into that mountain road? Richard Fletcher 32:46 The don't know the answers are so the there's a perception certainly that the TT course will not upset from the TT course it has a priority. And it is always, as you say, perfectly maintained. And it has to be actually sculptured sometimes to accommodate the motorcycling. So the the course has probably got faster over the years, because it's been improved. There's a on the mountain road section, there's a couple of places where the road is actually been that not banked. But is lends itself to is certainly not off camber for it that way. So that there is a lot of money spent on the TT course. But that's justified by the fact that the TT races are revenue generating. So whether the, whether that means it whether that's to the detriment of other roads is a moot point. Some people locally would say, definitely, whether it's financial or just resource wise, in terms of the time spent. And generally speaking, I think our roads are fairly good. I tend to ride a gravel bike now anyway, so on You seek out rough road sometimes. So it's not as I don't think we certainly don't think we're the roads elsewhere. The roads outside of TT girls over here are certainly not any worse than UK roads now. And I'd say overall, slightly better than a lot of areas of the UK. So be it as much the time I think is nCn calm the isn't more than the money you've got limited resources to do road maintenance. So if you're spending quite a lot of that time on a TT course you've you've a limited timeframe. Carlton Reid 34:40 By the same token, you probably got some pretty good experts who are probably using some pretty good scientific equipment to spot potholes forming and that might benefit. Richard Fletcher 34:52 Maybe not seeing that but we've got the we've got reporting so you can report potholes and they do that for very quickly to them when you report them. When it's inevitable, you'll get where and turn around. Look at the weather today. It's there'll be, I'm sure when this week is out, there'll be a lot more potholes than they were last week. Carlton Reid 35:15 So, so far, we've talked about road cycling, and you've talked a little bit about gravel cycling there. What about mountain biking? Richard Fletcher 35:22 Mountain biking is is a growing thing. It's been under exploited. I think Carlton Reid 35:26 in that get in the bank shop here. I'm just turning my head. It some of this road bikes over there. But there's a tonne of mountain bikes. Yeah. Richard Fletcher 35:33 I mean, the there are 26 plantations over here Carlton Reid 35:37 are found they are what we would call Forestry Commission. Yeah, yeah, Department Richard Fletcher 35:41 of the Department of Government that looks after them and uses them for growing trees, basically, and harvesting those trees. But within those plantations, a lot of them have had over the years. sanctioned and unsanctioned trails built, they tended to be built, historically, they've tended to be built. And then forgiveness, asked afterwards, rather than permission to go and build the trails. And the government, the barn has been quite friendly in that respect, in that they generally want to encourage access to those plantations. The we tried to formalise that in the last couple of years and recognise that we've probably got as many trails and the quality of those trails and the accessibility Australia is just as good as some of the sort of identified cycling parks in particularly in Wales, Scotland and Ireland more recently, but we've never really produced a a tourism product that, and we've never really joined them all up. So there's been quite a big effort in the last two years to do that. And there's a there's a scheme, just kicking off at the moment government agreed funding in October last year, to produce effectively a, an Isle of Man trail Park. And that's taking a cluster of seven plantations that are quite close to Douglas, and joining them together, they're about they're only about four road crossings to join them together, because they either abort each other or they're, there's a road crossing to get into the next one. So that's a project that's, that's starting now. To join those up. And then I think it will be used as a as a tourism product, but also be of great benefit to local population. And then you're involved in that. Yeah, the I'm involved in advising the government on it. The the rise of gravel cycling as well, because a lot of it. Within those plantations, you have forestry, roads, fire fire roads. And so we're going out from this bike shop actually, on Saturday and on a gravel ride, and we'll take in at least two of the plantations during that if the weather improves. Carlton Reid 38:03 So the government is pumping money into into these plantation rides. It recognises all the big wigs recognise Mark Cavendish, or they use Mark Cavendish as something to talk to a general audience and there's not wasn't a noise of scientists at all. It's an audience of, of just general travel writers who they were talking to. So is their awareness that cycling is important to the economy and potentially could become even more important in future. Yeah, Richard Fletcher 38:35 it's growing thing that the Isle of Man's tourism product has changed over the years. If you go back to my childhood, it was a bucket and spade tourism, where the the mill towns of the Northwest would shut down for a week and the there was Scottish week, there was Irish week. And it was that type of holiday that fell away when the trips to Spain and things like that came about. So that was one section. Then it it moved on to basically in more niche tourism, such as around the heritage railways and things like that. And that became very popular. More recently, so last three, four years. All the studies and reports that have been done around the future tourism on the island says actually that generation is these strong say flatlining because that flood that is declining. The new demographic, a tourism want the outdoors and that's what the Ironman has got in spades. So, the activities such as I think the government does now realise that activities particularly such as walking, cycling, golf as well, there are numerous golf courses over here. And then anything, the more sort of general, outdoor and active type of activities are they will be the future tourism on the island. So cycling and walking in particular are being focused on we've got some I'm not a hill Walker at all. But the the that is as an asset over here this does access all around us there's an 82 mile coastal path, go the route route fall on them that is under use is it's not known about really, but it's there. And it doesn't need a lot of work to make it a top rate tourism product, like some of the the Pennine routes that you have in the UK. And cycling wise. Yes, the there's mountain biking has been absolutely recognised and the see the money has been allocated to do that. And I think that will become a product and I think gravel and sort of lead you into road as well. So I mean, the challenge that mean chance, I think is is for cycling is getting a bike go via Carlton Reid 41:02 the ferry. I mean, some people might fly but the ferry it's a brand new ship. Yeah, Richard Fletcher 41:07 they use those pretty friendly with the bikes. I mean that there's room yeah, there's actual Carlton Reid 41:12 room where you put your bike? Yes, and you hang them up. And it's like what most varies, even in fact, I don't know any ferries where there's a room where you put your bike? Well, that's come about Richard Fletcher 41:20 because I say about three or four years ago, there was a recognition that the future lay in those niche, outdoor active elements, the various brand new so we did a gap analysis effectively. And what's the difference between the Isle of Man and an established cycling destination to take the weather out of it because if you comparing, say Croatia to the Isle of Man or basically to the weather booked the other things, the more the more basic things are the same. It's they're having cycling friendly accommodation, which can be the most basic thing where you don't get looked at as if you're from a different planet when you turn up in lycra with a bike through to the proper cycling friendly hotels, which would have secure bike storage, maybe a little workshop, side tap to clean your bike, that type of thing. So looking at the combination in the Government Department concerned has now a registered recycling friendly hotels and gives them advice as to what they need to do. In terms of that. The very youth was another one where back in my day, the crew were really friendly, but you'd roll up down the ramp and it says sticky bike over there mate. And it'd be just put against the side of the deck where all the cars work. Now as you see the new ferry the Manxman has got a dedicated cycle storage park so it's that type of messaging if you like people coming over that actually cycling is welcome here the big ticket items are things like putting together a proper trail Park product the route became in on blinded by rain in the last couple of miles went past what's called a nunnery estate which is an older stately home and been in talks with the owners of that put a close road title circuit in it. And they're quite keen on that funding won't be an issue. But but that so there is recognition particularly around so I think that it's it's a it can become an an important tourism product. Carlton Reid 43:31 And when people are laughing they because maybe not in February Richard Fletcher 43:36 no I don't think and there's a big push to try and encourage visitors to the island in what they call the shoulder periods. But no if I was I'm blunt about these things when people ask about the Ironman and cycling cyclists more enjoyable in good weather. It's as simple as that. So yeah, you would come in the not this year the high season but he come between April May June July August September. I wouldn't I personally wouldn't do a trip outside those months I'd be them a lot of people would say well there's no such thing as bad weather just blanket but Carlton Reid 44:14 we had some good kit on today and we still got cold I Richard Fletcher 44:18 know yeah the the sort of you were you can tweak the sides a bit on now are around mountain biking because you what we tend to do with the locals anyway. On a day like this, if you were going to go out you go on a mountain bike in the plantations and you don't hear the wind and basically So building that mountain bike trail Park product could actually extend the season because yes, you still gonna get money, but you don't get score and worse because you there's just no wind in plantations. That's where I would probably do my gravel riding or mountain biking Not quite not quite as bad as this but you can extend it a little bit in that respect I think Carlton Reid 45:05 so people listening to this they thought right definitely not in February but in the months that you've just recommended summer basically they want to come across they want to see this this fantastic very with its dedicated bike room they want to do the same roads that cab has done and other top local riders they want to do the plantations maybe on a mountain bike How did they find out about this and how do they find out about you? So what social media and what websites can they go look at will the Richard Fletcher 45:41 there is a cycling website we're trying to build up quite a lot now called https://www.cycling.im and that will become hopefully one of the main portals to visit Isle of Man website as well has quite a lot of information. But nowadays a loop it's not totally reliable you can easily find on Strava or rider GPS routes on the island that aren't somebody's commuter route, but they are actually a decent ride. So it's quite so much easier nowadays I think to find you yourself new routes or or you can you can hire a guide but it's small enough Island to find your way around. What where it's more difficult I think and that's why we're putting the work into is on the mountain bike side. I go out with mountain bike I'm because I'm mainly road cyclists. I'll go to mountain bikers and I'll go trails I never would have found if I hadn't gone out with the group that did the old time. So the idea with trail Park is that it will just be on trail forks are one of the products like that it will actually be very well signposted. So that you can the the network we've designed is it's about 64 kilometres of trails. And we agree right start the project actually although it might seem cosmetic, the most important thing is the signage. So people can without a guide or or necessarily GPS files that they can find their way around and find the know where the coffee shop or the toilet block or whatever on their ride. So that's it's probably going to take 18 months to complete it but the aim is we'll have that a credible product for people wanting to do that for the start of the 25 season. Carlton Reid 47:38 So famously Majorcar is a destination without cycling product and clearly part of the attraction of of New Yorker is nice weather yeah early season well yes or late season one and but also beautiful road but the certainly the nice weather is a is a is a pool, but here could become a cycling paradise could become either a cycling paradise in many ways already, but could become even bigger in the future, especially with like short haul stuff you having to be necessarily, you know, in the future, we're gonna have to start basically holiday much closer to home. Yeah, I don't like climate change and not flying everywhere. And taking a ferry is much more ego than flying to Majorca. So cyclists could come to the Isle of Man and not go to Majorca Richard Fletcher 48:33 and I think to say the weather is important factor. But yeah, it is more the hassle of I mean, I've done it all my life cycles since I was 15. Taking your bike on a plane is a faff, it's now because I'm old and grumpy when I go I do still do a lot of cycling outside of the UK. But it was hired by want to do that. Now if I go to France of France, alright, well, France is different. Unfortunately I've got a friend lives in France with a house and I leave a bike there. But I'm gonna go anywhere else Spain or Italy or further afield I was hired by because I don't like the faff of going through airports and boxing it up and unboxing it and wondering whether we'll get there. The ferry is a lovely way to do that you can just literally ride on the boat. So yeah, that that is the best way for cyclists to get the Isle of Man is to bring it to bring their bike on the ferry. That and yeah, I think it is a viable alternative is going it's going overseas without going too far. Carlton Reid 49:38 You're going out of the UK, Richard Fletcher 49:41 You are going out of the UK and the rod. There are a variety of road to get here is quite fun. That to me. The sweet spot for a visitor is about a three or four day trip. And then you can ride different roads every day and enjoy them in that way. Say they it's been record week, we spoke to a few of the tour on cycling tour operators because one of the other things in sort of gap analysis that was done is it the Arman is not on in the portfolio of a lot of tour operators. Some like there's a company that I've done some work with bikeadventures.co.uk, they, they've got the Isle of Man because I did a trip for them, basically, and, but a lot of the larger ones don't have the Ironman as a destination. So we need to convince them that the Ironman should be a destination on their portfolio, and then put together the trips for them to do. So that's another sort of initiative that needs to Carlton Reid 50:42 get across here before those companies put it on and they become saturated. And it's another Majorca. Yeah, Richard Fletcher 50:48 it's we've got we've got lots of space that we could handle. Carlton Reid 50:53 Thanks to Richard Fletcher there and thanks to you for listening to Episode 347 of the spokesmen podcast brought to you in association with Tern bicycles. Show notes and more can be found at the-spokesmen.com. The next episode will be about the bike navigation app Komoot, but it soon veers off to a discussion of a round the world cycle trip. That show will be out at the beginning of March. Meanwhile, get out there and ride ...
Richard Cheetham is a senior fellow in Sports Coaching at the University of Winchester. He received an MBE for his contribution to education and community sport in the 2017 New Years honours list Richard is both nationally and internationally recognised within the world of coach education, having worked with the likes of Sarcens, British Fencing, British Cycling, England Cricket Coaches Association, and the UCI World Cycling Elite Coach Education Programme since 2014. Expect to learn: How to find the balance between qualifications and experience, how to find your unique coaching identity, the power of authentic storytelling, creating your own coaching philosophy, using curiosity in coaching, why you should use empathy and vulnerability as a coach and much more. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twowheelprofessor/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/twowheelprof Get 20% of MindStrong Sport subscriptions mindstrongsport.com/checkout (Use code raisingyourgame) Get your Free 4-Minute Self-Confidence Course by clicking here Connect: Instagram: @lewishatchett TikTok: @lewis_hatchett To sponsor or contact the show visit: podcast.lewishatchett.com
Had enough of sandstorms, palm trees and camels at the roadside? Get ready then for beers and techno, bergs and burgers: it's time for Opening Weekend...We start with a preview of Saturday's two editions of Het Nieuwsblad and Sunday's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The men's edition of Het Nieuwsblad will see Visma-Lease A Bike start with a stacked team that features the race's last two winners, Dylan van Baarle and Wout van Aert, and very much tagged as favourites. We hear from Sep Vanmarcke, who won this race in 2012 against an equally powerful BMC team and is now director for Israel-PremierTech in the Classics. Vanmarcke explains the hurdles facing Visma-LAB and reveals his hopes for the young IPT line-up.The women's Classics campaign also starts at Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. We speak to Human Powered Health's Audrey Cordon-Ragot, who tells us about the significance of this race and why she's hoping it'll be wet and wild this weekend. The French racer also reflects on the latest more optimistic news for the Women's Tour of Britain.With that event in mind, we also hear from Cycling Weekly's Tom Thewlis, who provides an update on the latest developments for the Women's Tour of Britain, which has returned to the UCI calendar as a four-day event and, assuming British Cycling can fulfil the financial and logistical requirements, is likely to run as a "hub" race based on one or two cities.Finally we turn to a quite astonishing story. It's a tale that could have had an absolutely awful outcome, but which ended up with Cofidis pro Axel Zingle perhaps saving the life of one of his close friends, Yael Joalland, during the GP Marseillaise race in France last month. Support the show
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Ten years after the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire, road racing in Britain is in crisis. We examine two strands of that state of affairs...We start by interviewing British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton, who has announced a rescue plan for the men's and women's national tours. Dutton explains how the newly formed British Cycling Events will set about saving these two emblematic races, but admits that they may not be as substantial as they previously were, in the short term at least. He also provides an update on the Tour de France's mooted UK start in 2026...Next we turn to Brexit... While the British government insists that leaving the European Union is going swimmingly, there's plenty of evidence of the negative effect Britain's decision has had on many facets of life. Cited as one of the reasons for the collapse in the UK's elite road scene, we examine the specifics of Brexit's impact, speaking to the former Tour of Britain organisers, the Dave Rayner Fund that helps aspiring Brits find club teams in Europe, and to Bingoal-WB new pro Tom Portsmouth, who's spent three years dealing with its complexities.Our final story takes us, once again, into elite racing's political netherworld, and specifically the SafeR (SafeRoadcycling) initiative that was established last year by the sport's key stakeholders to making racing safer. Everyone agrees it's needed, but no one can agree on who should run it. Almost inevitably, Visma Lease a Bike are at the centre of this storm. From there, we move swiftly into the latest knockings from the One Cycling saga, and explain why it may happen soon... or maybe in the long term... or even not at all... Support the show
Marginal gains is an approach that was created by Dave Brailsford with British Cycling which led to many years of success. It's an holistic approach where you can reflect on your habits and behaviours, looking for small 1% improvements to ensure you give yourself a better chance of success. In this short episode double Olympian and now, a motivational speaker and executive coach Chris Cook tells me about his experience of implementing a marginal gains approach. The emotion associated with such innovation and the results too. Key Learning Points: How can I swim 2 lengths of the pool faster was a question Chris often asked himself with the help of a Sports Psychologist. It helped him simplify his approach and question why he did what he did on a daily basis. Being triggered by something often is caused by some sort of inner conflict. Seek to explore it. Connect with Chris Cook Website LinkedIn Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn To Listen to Relevant Episodes to Improve Your Rest and Recovery Ep110: Dan Steele - How to Increase Mental Fortitude: Secrets from an Olympian Ep140: Chris Cook – How to Improve Your Mental Strength: Secrets from an Olympian Ep213: Sandro Forte - How To Set Yourself Up For Success In 2024? Ep214: Ellen McDermott - How To Create Helpful Eating Habits To Benefit Your Sport Performance Ep215: Fenwick Ridley - How Ice Swimming And Cold Immersion Can Help You Take Control Of Your Destiny Other helpful resources to help you learn how to perform better Handout: Marginal Gains Refining Your Approach Blog: Do You Really Want to Succeed Blog: 12 Reasons Why You Won't Achieve Your Potential Blog: 9 Tips for Children from Olympians Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST
While northern Europe is swept by blizzards and freezing temperatures grip the landscape, in the relative warmth of Spain's Costa Blanca cycling's elite teams are making their final pre-season preparations and, as part of that, have been meeting the press. We joined this welcome migration and this pod features three of the peloton's biggest names...We start with Belgium's most feted sporting star, Remco Evenepoel, one of the "big four" who are due to clash at the Tour de France this summer. We ask the Soudal-QuickStep leader about whether he can end his country's 48-year Tour drought on his debut in the race, how his team is shaping up to this challenge, and about his post-Tour hopes for glory at the Paris Olympics.Fabio Jakobsen has removed himself from the ever-growing shadow Evenepoel casts over his teammates at QuickStep by joining dsm-firmenich PostNL. We ask the Dutch sprinter about why he wanted this move, hear about the goals he has set himself for the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, and about his aim to knock long-time rival Jasper Philipsen off the top of the sprinting tree.We also reveal the latest news on the Tour of Britain and Women's Tour, which both face an uncertain future following the breakdown in the relationship between British Cycling and race organisers Sweetspot. There are reasons for optimism, we understand...We end with "Dave watch", a look at the latest movements of Ineos director of sport Dave Brailsford, featuring a brief cameo from the man himself... This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Support the show
Today's podcast is with Dr. Keith Baar, professor at UC Davis and renowned tendon training researcher and expert. Professor Keith Baar received his PhD from the University of Illinois, and over the last 20 years, Keith has worked with elite athletes, as the scientific advisor to Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Denver Broncos. He also spent time as an assistant strength coach with the University of Michigan football team where he was an undergraduate. Keith first guest appearance on this podcast, was on the role of various exercise velocities and tendon health, and was an extremely popular episode. Tendon training is crucial for overall health and performance, as tendons rely on loading for adaptation. Isometrics, a potent tool, are key to a robust training program. In this episode, Keith Baar explores tendon tissue adaptation trends and how different forms of isometrics and training methods optimize tendon health and high-tension capabilities. He delves into the impact of both low-speed and high-speed loading movements, emphasizing the compounding effects achieved by combining them for enhanced performance. Dr. Baar discusses essential concepts like tendon remodeling, the body's protective mechanisms, and the optimal sequence for training to realign and remodel tendon tissue. Drawing from examples in swimming, running, and rock climbing, he highlights the integral role tendons play in shaping training and performance outcomes. Today's episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing. Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. I've continued to hear great things about the Teambuildr platform, and whether you are looking for an in-house training portal or an online training hub, be sure to check out Teambuildr training software. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:02- Benefits of Collagen Supplementation for Knee Osteoarthritis 10:03- Determining Collagen Synthesis through Exercise and Supplementation 15:47- The Power of Belief in Pain Relief 21:56- The Complexity of Pain and Tissue Healing 29:45- Optimizing Training Through Body Adaptability 31:46- Effects of Running Surfaces on Tendon Health 43:40- Tendon Health and Performance in Rock Climbing 52:27- Isometric Exercises for Scar Tissue Regeneration 59:54- Movement-Based Strategies for Inflammation and Recovery 1:09:38- Dynamic Adaptation of Muscle and Tendon Tissues 1:23:00- Optimizing Performance and Health through Tailored Training 1:23:47- The Impact of Loading Techniques on Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement 1:24:12- Estrogen's Impact on Injury Risk and Prevention Dr. Keith Baar Quotes "These peptides, these magical elixirs. They don't really do anything at all." "The hardest part, a lot of times, is having the expert to come in and say, this is what the real underlying problem is. And if you fix this, all the other stuff goes away." "In thinking about human beings as being incredibly adaptable, it's interesting to think about how we can use that adaptability to shift out of, hey, if you mentioned even the tendon with the know, use that adaptability, like, hey, let me get away from the donut part and shift into the strong tissue." "Your movement has to be much, much faster. And that movement through being faster means that the tendons are going to be stiffer and...
Sir Chris Hoy talks about the British Cycling success story of the last two decades and reflects on his own career with Matt Stephens, in this interview recorded on stage at Rouleur Live 2023. They also talk about the Lotus bikes that were on display at the show, the stunning Type 136 ebike and legendary Type 108. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our debrief from the National Hill Climb Champs, turmoil at Islabikes and British Cycling, could e-bikes save the bike industry and has bike tech gone too far? Here's the full rundown of this week's episode:00:00 Jimmi's unfulfilled potential02:32 ‘A dark day for cycling'08:43 Sorry Nic!13:08 Bike industry crisis claims more victims19:37 Cycling insurance just got a HUGE boost22:16 Do you insure your bikes?24:56 The problem with e-bikes26:51 More tech or cheaper bikes? The Big Question42:14 Overrated or Underrated: Cycling caps44:42 Overrated or Underrated: Heart rate monitors48:03 Overrated or Underrated: 12 speed48:59 Overrated or Underrated: Expensive watches53:39 Overrated or Underrated: Tattoos55:56 Fluff Up Of The Week56:51 Help! Should I upgrade to disc brakes?Watch us weigh bikes at the national hill climb championship here: https://youtu.be/O_IdcYmuZWs?si=Dh0HYtADG0aAjGN4 Watch Remi's Tour de France prank: https://youtu.be/wOur8qXvpnk?si=zBtZ0NSiWS-Rt2Vc If you'd like us to send in a question, story, some good news, things you'd like us to discuss or anything else, email us at wildonespodcast@cademedia.co.ukThanks and see you next time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is part of our Squeezed Middle series on the strategic options available to the people running professional sport.The focus in this episode is the impact of those choices on the commercial income and capital value of sports teams, leagues and federations. Our guests are Ben Wells and Andrew Umbers.Ben is CEO of PTI Digital, the strategy and technology consultancy. Andrew is co-founder and partner of Oakwell Sports Advisory, the leading strategic and financial advisor in sports and sports technology. Andrew was formerly MD at Credit Suisse and more recently, he served as Chairman at Leeds United.You can hear the previous episodes in the Squeezed Middle series by searching Unofficial Partner in Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.What is the Squeezed Middle?There is a small global elite of sports rights holders which are doing just fine. Billions of dollars in media revenue chases must-see content, from the NFL in the US, Premier League in England, the IPL in India through to the major quadrennial extravaganzas such as Olympics and World Cups. Likewise, there are clubs and institutions in the lower reaches of the sporting pyramid for whom not much has changed and who cut their cloth according to the local demand for traditional revenue generators such as sponsorship, match day tickets and merchandise.It's the middle of the market where much of the pain is being felt. The situation was described in a recent essay by our guest Ben Wells:'Economic crises tend to cause money to move in one of two ways: to quality or to price. Those in the middle, who are not able to compete on either front, are squeezed.In the last 12 months, not one major Olympic NGB was able to sign a primary sponsor, with the biggest deal of the year – British Cycling's tier-two sponsorship with Shell – bringing significant amounts of criticism. In parallel Müller ended its long-running main sponsorship of UK Athletics after seven years. UK Athletics is currently teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.This isn't a situation unique to athletics. Headlines in rugby, cricket and the second and third tiers of football report of similar tales of woe – the result of unsustainable commercial models – trying to grow revenues in a business built around live events, which are limited by number and venue capacity and whose cost-bases are rising with rampant inflation – are the norm."Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter @UnffclPrtnrWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 300 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.
For years, the British Cycling team was known for their spectacular failure, not winning a single Tour de France for over a century. Then came Dave Brailsford in 2003, who introduced the concept of “marginal gains.” Brailsford believed that by improving every area related to cycling by just 1%, the cumulative gains would lead to […]
James Moran is the head of nutrition at Uno-X Pro Cycling Team. He has previously worked for Ineos Grenadiers, British Cycling, the English Institute of Sport, and as a clinical dietitian. In this interview we dive deep into nutrition for endurance athletes in general, and in the pro peloton specifically. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Nutrition in training, racing, and in the day to day -Supporting health as the primary objective of nutrition -Increased carbohydrate intake to support training -Supplements and ergogenic aids -Gaining weight to improve performance -When and how the Uno-X cyclists focus on weight and body composition -Nutritional differences between triathlon and cycling -Advice for amateur endurance athletes SHOWNOTES: https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts404/ SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON AND THAT TRIATHLON SHOW WEBPAGE: www.scientifictriathlon.com/podcast/ SPONSORS: Precision Fuel & Hydration help athletes perform at their best through their online tools, patented Sweat Test and range of electrolytes and fueling products. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner and receive a personalised plan for your carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake. If you want further help, book a free 20-minute video consultation to chat through your plan. Listen out for the code in today's show to get 15% off your first order of PF&H electrolytes and fueling products. If you missed the code, just email hello@pfandh.com. FORM Smart Swim Goggles give you unprecedented real-time feedback in your swim training through a display on the goggle lens. See every split to stay on pace, track your stroke rate and don't let it drop, use heart rate to become more scientific and precise with your training (through integration with Polar HR monitors) and analyse more in-depth metrics post-swim in the app. You can also use a vast library of workouts or training plans, or build your own guided workouts. Get 15% off the goggles with the code TTS15 on formswim.com/tts. LINKS AND RESOURCES: James' Twitter Training Camp Mallorca 2024 Carbohydrates – science and practice with Tim Podlogar, PhD | EP#354 Training methods of Ethiopian runners with Michael Crawley | EP#275 Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia - book by Michael Crawley Sport Nutrition (3rd ed.) - textbook by Asker Jeukendrup and Michael Gleeson All previous nutrition-related episodes on That Triathlon Show Energy availability with José Areta, PhD | EP#378 The Performance Chef – Alan Murchison | EP#366 Nutrition and hydration data from Kona and 70.3 Worlds with Andy Blow | EP#365 Caffeine in racing – best practices with Andy Blow | EP#346 Carbohydrate intake in racing – a case for going very high with Aitor Viribay Morales (Astana Pro Team) | EP#269 Nutrition at the cycling World Tour level with Robert Gorgos (Bora-Hansgrohe nutritionist) | EP#267 Nutrition for endurance and ultra-endurance athletes with Trent Stellingwerff, PhD | EP#265 Glycogen metabolism and optimising glycogen resynthesis with Bob Murray, PhD | EP#252 Caffeine and Endurance Performance with Ajmol Ali, PhD | EP#234 RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports) with Margo Mountjoy | EP#233 RATE AND REVIEW: If you enjoy the show, please help me out by subscribing, rating and reviewing: www.scientifictriathlon.com/rate/ CONTACT: Want to send feedback, questions or just chat? Email me at mikael@scientifictriathlon.com or connect on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
In this week's regular episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel and Lionel are joined by Team Jayco-AlUla Director of High Performance and Racing Matt White to reflect on the UCI ‘Superworlds', Jayco's Tour de France and the start of cycling's transfer window - and look ahead to the Vuelta a España. Before that, we recap a busy week of news, including the announcement that former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman has been handed a four-year ban for possession of a banned substance and twice lying to UK Anti-Doping investigators. We ask the question - are some or even all of successes amassed on Freeman's watch now tarnished?
"With so many pulls and strains and stresses, Simon offers us simple steps for every one of us to indeed energise!' Simon Sinek, optimist and New York Times bestselling author of Start With Why.In the intricate maze of personal development and energy management, we're illuminating paths that transcend the mundane, fuelling ambition, and sparking transformation. We're thrilled to welcome to our podcast the incredible Simon Alexander Ong, a titan in the field of personal development and a maestro in the art of energising lives. Admired for his thought-provoking insights and transformative coaching style, Simon has spent his career inspiring individuals from all walks of life to invest in their most valuable asset: themselves.In this episode, we plunge into the depths of Simon's world, tracing his journey from the roots of his career to his current groundbreaking work in energy management. We unravel his experiences navigating the pulsing avenues of personal development, which have served as an enriching ground for learning, innovation, and an enduring passion for human potential.Simon enlightens us on the power of managing our energy as he takes us on a journey through his guiding principles, coupled with the doctrine of "Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time." We'll discover the importance of harnessing our energy to fuel our ambitions and build sustainable paths toward our most audacious goals.We delve into the mechanisms of energy management, exploring the four dimensions of energy, the science of energy, and the potent concept of Longpath as an antidote for short-termism. We're examining the lessons from British Cycling and the potency of tiny gains, all while navigating the ebb and flow of our personal energy resources.We venture into the realm of mindset, exploring the challenges and opportunities that come with managing our internal narrative. We tap into the wisdom of influencers like Andrew Huberman and Rich Roll and probe into the transformative power of introjection. We're diving deep into the riveting elements of challenge and resilience, all the while unveiling the tactics for overcoming obstacles.As we navigate the waves of Simon's wisdom, we're invited to transcend conventional thought paradigms, prompting us to be "Better Than Who We Were Yesterday." Drawing on insights from his remarkable book 'Energise', lessons from Matthew McConaughey's 'Greenlights', and Simon's own pioneering work, we underscore the paramount importance of personal energy management and lifelong learning.This episode isn't just another podcast—it's a vibrant blueprint for personal transformation, a compelling testament to the power of self-improvement, and a clarion call for personal growth. As Simon tells us, it's time to learn to "Prioritise Time Just To Be." So, plug in, open your mind, and let these narratives inspire, motivate, and energise you.Personal development isn't a destination—it's an exciting, lifelong journey. Dive in and enjoy! Join our tribe and lets grow together https://plus.acast.com/s/purpose-made-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week we welcome on to the podcast, Colin Walker, Transport Analyst at Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. Colin's spent 16 years working on campaigns and advocacy in the charity sector, working for charities Warchild, Save The Children, Mind and Plan International UK. Colin joined ECIU in August 2022 from British Cycling, where he worked as the organisation's lead for London and the central regions for four years. Besides developing the sport and contributing to the sport's ongoing elite success, he focused on efforts to improve the diversity of participation in cycling, and realising the environmental and societal benefits of cycling as a means of transportation. Colin and Robert discuss what the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit does including fact-checking common misinformation about climate change and Evs.