onionbagblog

And so after the working party last weekend in SE24, early Saturday morning and we were ready to roll out for another season of outdoor track cycling at Herne Hill Velo.

Chapeau!

I’ve got big plans for this season: to try and finish it. It’s a hell of a long stretch from the Ides of March, all the way through until the autumnal days of October.

In-between there will no doubt be days when the weather gets the better of us, and with larger plans looming elsewhere come the end of summer, best to make hay ‘n all that.

If you have told the fine folk at VCL three weeks ago that we would be rolling out in rotation on Saturday morning, you would have been suspected of having taken a particularly bad knock to the head without wearing a bicycle helmet.

But woh – where did that cold snap go? Bright blue South London skies awaited my arrival at Herne Hill. The track looked splendid following the spring clean last week.

I really think the new racing schedule is going to work well this season. 9-10 am for the juniors removes the novices from bunching with the kids, as well as keeping the track clear for the intermediates only at 10am.

Ah yes, the intermediates. This is the banding of which I’m supposed to belong in. Technically a veteran, but still hanging on to hopes of Herne Hill glory.

Shortly after 10am, I cleated my ride, and rolled out nervously around the first bank. It was like I had never been away. The first breakaway group got my heart rate up. By the second and I could feel the blood pumping through every vein in my body. This is what it’s all about. It’s got to be better than the weekly supermarket shop on a Saturday morning.

Holding back the novice riders until after the intermediates, also allows VCL to experiment with the schedule. Bumps and Lumps was a new discipline for me, and one which I found rather hairy.

You follow the lead rider in a single string, as a route up and down is weaved all the way around the historic Herne Hill track. The thinking is to improve your awareness and handling abilities. The reality for me was that I almost ended up with a bump and a lump.

Rotation finished the first session of the season – a ride of stamina as the pace picks up with each lap. This was more like it, although I bonked as the pelaton broke away for a sprint finish.

But it’s early days down in SE24. I’ve got seven months in which to refine my track riding skills. There is much work to do.

It’s surprising how smooth the transition from road racing to the track is. You soon remember the small things, such as the idiosyncratic track hand signals, or the need to stick with the pack, else suffer the fate of bonking alone on the banks.

Come midday, and I de-cleated and hit the shakes. From my shoulders down to my fingernails, my arm and hands were in freefall. The cycle back to Sunny Stockwell on the Moulton had a fair share of bumps and lumps along the way.

Same again next Saturday.

Chapea!

A decent day of work down at Herne Hill velodrome on Saturday. With the new track season optimistically scheduled to role out of SE24 next weekend, there was no shortage of tasks for the VCL working party to complete this weekend.

The main focus of course was upon the track. An outdoor velo is essentially a very large garden, with a rather steep concrete path running around it. Nature doesn’t respect track etiquette, and so our first job was to trim the overgrowing grass around the inner track.

Teamwork was the key here. We completed a circuit of the velo in probably about the same time my aching frame will manage once bike bound next weekend.

A quick tea break, and next up was the clearing of the Herne Hill leaves. The wonderful autumnal Ride of the Falling Leaves rolls out at Herne Hill, and it seems that the leaves from five months ago have remained all around the track.

I cleared three wheelbarrow loads, and started off our very own Herne Hill compost patch. Cycling and green fingers – it’s got a future.

But it wasn’t all about having a track ready to ride ahead of le grand roll out – you need bikes to ride as well. My mechanical skills probably weren’t quite up to scratch, but it was good to see a dedicated team of grease monkeys servicing the fleet of VCL owned track bikes.

Sadly there has been a break in at Herne Hill over the winter months. Sixteen club owned track bikes were stolen. Four of these were later recovered in a front garden at Burbage Road, suggesting that the bike thief scum took off with more than they could transport.

The wonderful people of VCL have invested in a new fleet of Fuji’s. These look pristine, and rather tempting to take out for a spin next weekend. Each bike had to be fully serviced, and then pumped up to 160 PSI max for that feel of complete track control.

And so shortly after lunchtime on Saturday, the VCL working party was complete. I’m very excited about the news season. It will probably be our last summer in South London before the Great Escape, and so I’m hopeful of making the most of Herne Hill.

A question mark hangs over the running of the track. The mysterious Dulwich Estate is now operating a yearly rolling lease with British Cycling, which in turn, leases out le velo to VCL.

With no long term control of the facility, British Cycling and VCL are unable to raise funds and invest in the much needed improvement of the infrastructure.

The fear is that the Dulwich Estate is happy to see Herne Hill deteriorate to such an extent that it becomes unsafe. Cycling is then moved out, and the leafy suburbs of Dulwich are prime for further property development.

Never underestimate the passion of a cyclist though. The working party on Saturday demonstrated the collective spirit within the South London cycling community. We will work together and promote cycling in South London, irrespective of the opposition.

The new VCL track calendar has seen some slight tweaks for this season. The early Saturday morning 9am – 10am session has been put aside for the kids; adults roll out at the slightly earlier time of 10am, and then novices can be inducted at midday.

Do come down to SE24 and experience track racing. It’s the purest form of cycling, and VCL is an incredibly friendly, welcoming and supportive club. Plus don’t forget the highlight of the Herne Hill calendar – the Good Friday meet on April 2nd.

Chapeau!

The first cyclo cross of the new decade down at Herne Hill proved to be the perfect head clearer. Not that I was in need of a head clearer.

An early start some eighteen hours earlier meant that my personal high spirits had peaked sometime in the early hours of 2010. Which is why I didn’t race (plus the fact that I am a total girl when it comes to getting my bikes dirty.)

It’s truly wonderful that cyclo cross seems to have found a natural home down in SE24. Being an outdoor track, le velo is only available to race for eight months of the year. With the a sizable grass banked perimeter bordering Burbage Road, plus a little creativity cutting through the centre of the track, a first class cyclo cross course is now in operation for the winter months.

The New Year’s Day roll out was more of a social event than a serious fixture in the season. The big boys are racing around like mucky pups next week, and so Friday was the ideal warm up event ahead of the serious racing.

We arrived in time to see the start of the Madison. It’s an event that I don’t understand, the riders probably don’t understand, the race officials perhaps don’t understand and no doubt Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish still don’t entirely understand understand either.

The basic premise is for teams of two riders to take it in turns at putting the laps in. This partnership was perfect for father and sons, couples, and even brothers and sisters, to all get a dirty backside on the New Year Bank Holiday.

Ah yes, the mud: I’m told that it’s all part of the attraction of the discipline. I was reduced to putting a scented hankie over my nose when a cyclo cross kid wheeled his mud machine past my freshly polished Moulton.

The Herne Hill course soon started to cut up. With little mudguard action in place, the laundry bill looked expensive. No worries – riders could pick up a lycra bargain at the bonkers bicycling jumble sale, being staged at le velo car park. These too are also becoming firm favourites in the Herne Hill calendar.

As tradition dictates, the dawn of a New Year is a time to look ahead. The cyclo cross was a great place to catch up on all the VCL gossip, as the track enters the new year, still fenced in by the pathetic political manoeuvrings of both Southwark Council and the mysterious Dulwich Estate.

Tessa Jowell? She said that? Blimey. Kate Tally Hoey did what? Seriously? And as for Boris? Cripes (although we all knew that, anyway.)

With an athletic pairing taking the chequered flag in a time just under an hour, I was somewhat tempted to take part in cyclo cross. Twenty-four hours later, and following a rather muddy road race with the lovely Dulwich Paragon, and I felt that I wasn’t really missing out much on the brown pants lycra action.

Cyclo cross it seems is the new triathlon, which we all know is the new marathon. It’s the boom discipline within cycling, and it’s not hard to see why. Athletic ability doesn’t give you much advantage; nerves and technical handling are all important.

Next year. Maybe.

Chapeau!

A striking poster desgin, and yep, all lido life is good. But as the good @thebikeshow pointed out to me last year, why would you want to use public transport to travel to a lido?

Cycling and swimming – it’s the way to go.

Rolling out on the crit circuit with @tourofbritain. Well, you know what I mean… #

At Parliament Square in glorious sunshine. Pelaton from @tourofbritain just sped through. Much excitement. Blink and you’ll miss it #

Oh dear. Boozed up London bloke just asked if @tourofbritain is #tourdefrance. Pissed up geezer aside, lovely atmosphere down by Embankment #

Unfortunate incident with over enthusiastic water steward along Whitehall at @tourofbritain. Rider delivered slap to face as he passed #

Gouged on sponsor friendly energy bar. Eyes popping out. Feeling unusually frisky down below. Gonna balance out effect with booze #

Come down to Embankment. Smell of Thames rank. Slightly fearful that Bicycling Village ahead will be a bloody trade fair #

WOW! Wonderful sprint finish and lead out for Barlow World. Thrill of the lunge for the line has to be witnessed. Off to snog a podium bird #

Just seen that nice Ned Bolton #

Full flickr set over here.

Never underestimate the kindness of the bicycling community. Never underestimate the kindness of any community – that is, after all, the fundamental building block which brings together disparate individuals to reach a shared goal.

But when that shared goal is to get my track bike, um, back on the track, it’s more of an individual pursuit, and one that alone, I’m not very good at.

I had a so so Saturday morning track session down at le velo. The legs surprisingly said yes, the bike said no. Track cycling is the ultimate in precision performance between rider and machine. You need to have full confidence in your bike, knowing that the slightest increase or decrease in power, and the pedals will respond and you can power home in safety.

It’s a deceiving discipline; much of track cycling is played out in the mind. You need to clear your head of all thoughts around you, and have a truly clear path ahead, both on the track and where your mind is heading. The slightest mechanical worry and you might as well bonk on the banks.

Much like my mind, my track bike was ticking away as I rolled out of Herne Hill, early Saturday morning. There was a very slight catch on the pedals with each rotation. Something was slightly wrong, and my concern was that the bike was going to fall apart on me.

I persisted around the rotation race, not helped when I was stung by a bee underneath my helmet at the start of the fifty-lap sprint around the SE21 circuit. Each time I tried to put the pressure on, my right pedal omitted a slight click against my cleat, coupled with a banging head from the b****y bumblebee.

Not a good place to be for mind, body and bike.

The mechanics of a track bike are so pure and simple, that even the most simpleton of bicycling grease monkeys should be able to find their way around the chain set with a spanner.

Ahem.

Clueless and lycra clad, I approached Eric, the Chief Club Mechanic down at Herne Hill for Velo Club Londre. Eric is a stalwart of South London cycling. His non-paid role basically means servicing the fleet of club track bikes down at le velo each Saturday morning. He shouldn’t have to be dealing with cyclists like me, who struggle fitting a cleat to a new pair of track shoes.

The problem was immediately identified – my crank needed realigning, having loosened out of the bottom bracket with every rotation around the Herne Hill track. It was close to coming off, something that would have made the bumblebee sting look like a minor inconvenience, had I bought down the entire pelaton during my sprint (ish) finish.

Eric very kindly clamped my frame down and got to work with his tool set. It was a tricky, fiddly job, balancing the crank either side, and then locking it all back into place. Forty-five minutes later and the job was complete. I offered to pay, but my offer was immediately dismissed. Forty-five minutes of mechanical time at Evans will cost you something slightly more than the genuine kindness of the bicycling community.

It is the many unpaid volunteers, like Eric, who make up the genuine community found within cycling clubs. Their own racing days may have been ridden out many summers ago, but they remain around the track or circuit, attached to the love of the bicycle and the friendship they can find from like-minded people.

There’s a VCL mechanical club day coming up soon. All club members are encouraged to help out, fixing up the fixies at the tail end of the season, and generally keeping the track in order. I can’t see that I’m going to be much use, but a day on handlebar tape duties is the least I can do to honour the kindness of the bicycling community.

Chapeau!

@INQ

As predicted, back in the distant past of, oooh, six months ago, INQ have ditched the Facebook Phone in favour of the Twitter handset. It’s a tough market out there in the world of iPhone lite. Good luck INQ Mini – it’s priced competatively, but I can’t see many of the Twitterati taking a backwards step from iPhone addiction.

Thou Shalt Not Cap

And so here’s the manifesto for the modern interweb. It’s a striking, challenging and inspiring call to arms. We need ‘nu journalists’ now, more than ever – if only to correct the capping up of the modern [i]nterweb.

Lights! Camera! Chapeau!

The brilliant Bicycle Film Festival is almost upon us once again. Cycling and the cinema make for strangely compelling saddle fellows. The big screen captures the beauty of riding a bike like no other medium.

Chapeau!