The 2012 Tour de France leaders jerseys are looking mighty fine!
Milltag got to have a look at the full set this week and we very impressed, if anybody knows about cycling jerseys it’s them so their opinion is worth a lot.
I really like the shirt collar effect style collar, it’s pretty wild in a very conservative sort of way.
Head over to the Milltag blog to see the jerseys that the points and king of the mountains riders get to wear.
The Rapha Continental UK frame builders are the pinnacle of what this country has to offer. They all have individual styles but the quality and attention to detail found in their work is universal.
Four of the builders are featured in a new series of audio slideshows released this week, check them out below…
Vulpine is a fairly new UK based cycling brand producing select high end clothing, sort of like Rapha in one way but nothing like Rapha in other ways.
They are holding an event on Jubilee Monday (fuck the queen) where you’ll be able to pop along to see their range as well as a bunch of great UK frame builders in the form of Demon, Feather and Donhou.
I could have had a stall but hanging out at a bowls club is not exactly my scene :-/ If you go, take some photos and send them over to me with a short write up and I’ll post it, cheers.
Hamilton Wheelers are not three old dudes who race trikes around Bristol like the name suggests, they are actually a few friends who ride fixed and other bikes and love it too.
They have started entering some road races, time trials and shit like that so now is a good time to check out their blog and start following what they’re up to. They only post original content so you don’t need to worry that your going to see the same old crap as everywhere else.
Reading about their race exploits almost makes me want to race, I won’t though because I simply have no desire to hang out with sporty folks.
You may remember them from such Vimeo sensations as this…
Today was my first proper ride since my collarbone plate removal operation five weeks ago. I had assumed after all this time off the bike I would return to a dramatic weather change but it was 5°C when we left at 7:30am. I was going to go out with just a jersey but had to go for both arm and leg warmers as well as a thermal base layer, gutted.
Just as we had regained feeling in our fingers and toes Beynon went and got himself a puncture, he swapped tubes, pumped up with a mini pump and it went straight back down again, didn’t check inside the tyre for glass, see. Luckily JT had a cO2 canister thing and another tube so we were on our way after too much delay. I’m deffo getting some cO2!
I was eager on my first climb in 6 weeks and shot up it pretty sharpish, it felt pretty good. We passed a TT race around about here, those guys are gruuuuuumpy and I didn’t get any nods, waves or owt. So many of the dudes racing were FAT! They had the aero bike, the aero suit, the aero helmet and a fucking great big barrel where their belly should be. I can’t hold a good pace for toffee but there is no way those guys are faster than I am, maybe I will enter a TT but I’ll have to fashion a helmet out of a chip shop cone.
The run up to the Rhigos is pretty cool, you get a good look at the climb for a while before it really ramps up. JT is fairly new to the road bike thing and started to struggle a bit around here, I held back with him because I was feeling a bit myself. It’s amazing how quickly you lose your form when you are just pissing about on the bike path a couple of times a week.
Up and down the Rhigos and we stopped in Treorchy for snacks. I had a pack of pickled onion Space Raiders and a whole pack of digestive cream biscuits, both from the menu of champions.
Next up was The Bwlch, I’d never done it from this side before and didn’t want to push it too hard because I’d felt a bit of cramp trying it’s best in my thighs. Again I held back for a bit with JT but inside I was like Scrappy Doo at the sight of a ghost, haha. I took off, caught up with Beynon then zipped off as fast I could manage. I was making fairly good time considering how pathetic my legs were feeling then something horrible happened. The chap above overtook me, I have never ever, not even once, been overtaken on a climb before but this guy rode past like it was nothing (which it wouldn’t have been normally), at least he was polite and said hello as he passed, the bastard.
At the top we waited for JT to catch up, the view was nice. Click the photo above to view it larger.
JT arrived pretty soon, he was hurting but kept on truckin’ like a trooper.
This is painted on The Bwlch, ‘Welcome to the Valleys’ may sound nice but in reality it is the Welsh equivalent of ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’.
The tiny little dot off in the distance is Beynon, eager to hit the decent. I rolled down it at 30mph trying my best to avoid any danger. I’m not supposed to ride for at least another 3 weeks but I won’t tell the doctor if you don’t.
My power was diminishing, JT’s was in the minuses and Beynon seemed fine during the last 20 miles. We got there in the end and I rounded the ride up to 66.6 miles (4400ft of climbing) by going past my pad and up the road a bit before stopping the Garmin. You gotta round up to a decent number!
Check out the ride data on Strava or Ride with GPS.
The Patrick Seabase designed carbon fiber Brascona frame is reaching an almost mythical status after three long years of testing and minuscule sneak peeks.
Information on this thing is harder to find than a Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat, in fact the only available info I think I’ve left out is that the one above belongs to Andy Ellis of Fixedgearlondon and that getting any more information out of him is like getting blood out of a stone from underneath a newborn baby Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat.
What do you think? Is carbon something you’d go for?
Amsterdam’s Faster Than You Crew Tournament returns for 2012 with six events spread out over six months.
Prizes this year will include complete bikes, frames, wheel sets, bags, clothing and loads more supplied by Maze Cycles, Brick Lane Bikes, Pristine Fixed Gear, Leader Bikes and 16 others. If only I was competitive and lived in Amsterdam!
Registration and riding is free and the first race will leave from Pristine Fixed Gear in Amsterdam on April 14th.
For more info check out the Faster Than You Crew website.
It was only a matter of time before Bradley Wiggins and Fred Perry got together, what surprises me is that it has taken this long!
Wiggo and Fred Perry will release a zip neck jersey in three different colours this summer followed by eight more in October, they will cost £65. The deal will last 6 seasons which is super cool.
I’m a big fan of Wiggins, the pro peloton is comprised of a million crashing bores but his irreverence and famous dry wit always make for great post race interviews.
No photos of the range are available yet but I’m sure the photo above by Rick from cyclesportphotos.com will do the job for now.
“It’s a partnership I could only have dreamed of…..I have been a lifelong fan of the brand, stemming from my following and commitment to the mod movement and what I believe is Fred Perry’s unparalleled relationship with subculture. My goal has been to develop an authentic, non technical range of off cycle wear that is inspired by the best of the sport’s unique heritage – something I am hugely passionate about. Fred Perry offered me that opportunity.
I’ll never forget the buzz when I first heard that Fred Perry were interested in working with me and since we’ve started work it’s clear that I’m going to have the chance to execute many of my and collaborate on some great ranges in the coming seasons.”
Bradley Wiggins, April, 2012
The Levi’s Commuter range is launching in the UK today, you won’t be able to spit in London without your gob running down someones double denim like water off a ruddy duck’s back.
If you’re the kind of person that likes to attend the opening of a letter then you’re spoilt for choice because you can (very probably) watch tiny droplets of water roll of the surface of these things at Tokyo Fixed (5-7pm), Brick Lane Bikes (5-7pm) or Look Mum No Hands! (7pm).
By all means go along to one (or all) of these events but instead of buying some wack jeans from a faceless global megabrand spend your money on something made by cyclists for cyclists.
This year I have been tracking all my road rides, I’m not training in any way, shape, or form but I do want to average 400 miles a month over the year on the road bike.
Well, I barely rode at all in March because of the operation to remove the surgical plate on my collarbone so there is very little to report. I mostly just rode along the bike path to keep my legs turning. 60 miles in a month, useless!
From Garmin Connect…
Distance: 60.87 miles
Time: 04:19:25
Elevation Gain: 3,746ft
Avg Speed: 14.1 mph
You can keep up with my road ride data on Strava or Ride With GPS and view the stats for all other months here.
