Well the road route out and the news today is that the course is pretty much ok. There are a few patches of ice but as long as you are not being silly then these are all rideable. Obviously this is all dependant on the weather between now and then with predicted snow and freezing temps on there way.  As stated before, we are all go at the moment but should we need to cancel the event then I will post up here in the morning. I drive the course before turning up to the event venue ( I’m on the road at 3am) so I’ll have an idea of the state of the roads and either make changes or the decision to cancel.

The MTB ride is a lot less of a problem as the snow and ice add to the obsticles It actually freezes the mud and makes the riding easier…… The only thing that will stop the MTB ride is if we can’t park you all due to the carparks being under snow. Again check here and we’ll post up what’s happening.

Today’s ride, again the long loop, was very nice to be honest. I started in a layby with a burger wagon, which was a mistake. One bacon and egg roll later and it was time to venture out into the cold. The first 300mtrs had me nearly turning back as the cold was making my head ache. But thinking of the shame of putting out the course in the van, I manned up and carried on. I’m glad I did because as soon as I warmed up the course became very enjoyable, with some climbs to  make you work and pretty scenery to keep you looking around. After dropping down from the ridgeway there is time to recuperate before climbing back up and rejoining the medium route and the long, fast finish into Watlington. You can see the data from my ride here ( Green arrow points to the burger van )

The MTB route is completely different to the last couple of years, this the inclusionof a couple of new descents and climbs. There are a plenty of singletrack sections but just be carefull when descending as it’ll take longer in these conditions.

Remember it’s NOT a race

Just a reminder that these rides are not races in any shape or form. Please treat other road and trail users with respect and patience, always give way and be courteous. Do not ride more than two abreast on roads where it’s not safe to do so, STOP at junctions and be aware that there might be something big around that blind corner. We do not insure you for your actions on our rides – if you hit a car it’s down to you to pay for the damage!

GPX files

Garmin 800 road files with turn by turn info and MMO files can be found here:-

Garmin 800/MMO files

GPX files for other units.

 GPX files

Problems?

Run the files through bikehike.co.uk and see if that helps you out. Garmin 500 users – export as a TCX file to get the course accepted. Go to “Course creator” Upload the file and then download it back to your computer ( select gpx track)

Ta

Dean

Being the kind of person that likes to ride my bike after work whether it’s winter or not, and also not being a fan of riding into trees, I do like my lights. Accordingly, I was recently handed a Full-Beam Night Nemesis to take for a spin.

Being used to Exposure lights, I admit I was guilty of expecting to be disappointed by the Night Nemesis. I’m a card-carrying bike tart and in the privileged position of being able to see some of the sexiest kit in the industry before it hits the shops, and the idea of a separate battery pack seems unwieldy and ugly to my jaded eyes. However, I got over myself for the sake of impartiality and strapped the battery pack to my frame. It is a little fiddly to perfect but, once you have decided where you want to mount it, and have the three straps set up for your chosen position the quick release buckles make it easy to remove and reattach at a snap. The cable from battery to lamp is sturdy with reliable looking connections, particularly at the lamp end, which features a locking screw system to ensure the cable doesn’t pop out on a rooty section and leave you suddenly blind in the trees at high speed.

The light unit itself has a slightly clunky, but highly effective handlebar clamp system which allows for quick release without tools. Always a bonus. Grip on the bars is good and solid, with no slipping.

Turning the unit on for the first time, I have to say I was seriously impressed. A nice, big, easy to operate button on the back of the lamp takes care of switching duties, and the output is amazingly bright with a wide and even beam pattern good enough to light the way on any trail on the darkest of nights. It was at this point I decided to have a look at the medium and low settings for comparison. Only then did I realise the light was actually in ‘medium’ when it powered up, and a touch of the button had flicked it into ‘high’ mode.

Wow.

In a pub car park in the Surrey Hills, I had found the Sun itself in a box, and opened the lid.

Now, Full-Beam claim this light has the output of an HID car headlight bulb, and it certainly overpowered my standard car headlights in that car park. On the trail, it was much the same and I almost felt guilty at having so much light at my disposal. Night riding is supposed to be difficult and dangerous right? Not if you bring the daylight with you it isn’t. The beam has a huge central spot area and a nice ‘Saturn’s rings’ effect which does a canny job of lighting up your peripheral vision without being distracting. In all, it’s enough to illuminate the widest of fireroads so copes very well indeed with singletrack. In fact in all but the tightest switchback turns it provides plenty of light, so much so that you don’t even really need a helmet mounted light to pick out the detail.

2100 lumens is the factory set ‘high’ output level, but you can even plug this thing into your computer and re-program it to give up to 2500 lumens, though unless you were looking to blind some passing aircraft I honestly can’t see why you would need to.

It’s now that I can appreciate the external battery pack. You can wring almost 3 hours out of it at full output, which is more than enough for most night rides. When you bear in mind that you can knock the output down to medium or low for climbing at the touch of the button, that run-time can be extended significantly with a little conservative use. I still think that the battery could be arranged in such a way that it would fit in a bottle sized container, allowing you to carry it in a standard bottle cage and making things a little cleaner looking, but really I’m just picking nits.

So all in all, it’s not cheap by any means, but I really can’t see you ever needing to upgrade this light unless you feel the need to wear dark sunglasses while riding at night. Yes, batteries will continue to improve and one day it will be possible to get this kind of power in a cable-free unit the size of a thimble, but until that day this is a seriously good light for serious trail riders. Now, if somebody wants me to test the 4000 lumen X12 model…

Check out all Full-Beam lights >>>
Check out all lights >>>
Read more lights reviews >>>

• We were proud to announce that we became the exclusive distributor of Suplest cycling shoes in the UK
• We all made New Year resolutions to ride more – and we are trying to help you to keep on cycling!
• Will shared a few handy tips if you wanted to participate this year’s Megavalance
• The cyclocross World Championships were held last week, we shared a preview of the race that turned out to be a true spectacle with over 60 000 people buying tickets on Sunday.
• Great winter riding tips from our staff
• The new year means that many pro cycling teams changed their outfits so we took a look who changed jerseys, sponsors and teams.

Saturday MTB Rider Times

Sunday Sportive Rider Times

Here’s a few videos from the guys at Gore giving an overview of their latest road and mountain bike performance ranges.

View all top rated Gore bike wear here >>>

First of all, it’s the Worlds, the winners will get the most coveted jersey in the sport, the rainbow jersey so the races over the course of the two days will be as fierce as they come. But it’s just half of the picture that the riders gathered from all corners of the world. The other factor why this weekend will be truly epic is that it will be held in Belgium. Belgium is the de facto home of cyclo-cross, a country that follows this elsewhere obscure sport with so much enthusiasm that it sometimes eclipses even football.

Kevin Pauwels is probably the biggest favourite of the race.

In the build-up to the weekend, all media outlets covered every tiny bit of the preparations of the national team, how they trained, how they testrode the course or whom they shared their rooms with. The selection of the national team was also a much debated issue, Sven Nys was upset to learn that none of his trade-team mates, especially Sven Vantourenhout made the selection, but by the end of the week everybody agreed that there must be a Belgian winner on Sunday and that they will whatever it takes to make that happen. The most likely to do that is Kevin Pauwels, the young Sunweb-Revor rider, him and Nys won 80% of the races this season.

Sven Nys is one of the oldest riders in the field but he is still the most dominant force in the sport. He only has one World title under his belt so he is really keen to add another one, especially after such a strong season.

The only non-Belgian rider who can spoil the fun on Sunday is the Czech Zdenek Stybar. He has been wearing the rainbow jersey since 2010, when he won the Worlds on home soil in Tabor. He joined OmegaPharma-Quickstep last year, after winning his second World Champion title in Sankt Wendel and the long road season didn’t do much good on him: his struggled through the cross season and his tally counts only two big wins so far. Though he is a strong contender, it would be a suprise to see him win.

Current World Champion Zdenek Stybar

While there will be the races of the juniors, the U23 and the women on Saturday and Sunday morning, all these races have a clear favourite who dominated the entire season. The junior Matthieu Van Der Poel has won almost all the races he entered and the same applies to the equally dominant U23 rider, Lars Van Der Haar, the incumbent World Champion. Marianne Vos only started her season in November but she was beaten only once, back in November on her first race, ever since no one could even get close to her. That being said, the World Championships is always a special race and anything can happen.

American Katie Compton has had her eye on the World Championship title for a while -she is one of the riders who might be able to best Marianne Vos.

And just so you have a vague idea what the venue will look like: 50 000 tickets had been sold in advance and they closed ticket sales as that’s the maximum capacity of the venue. The popular spots, the really sandy and technical spots will be extremely busy and the crowd will try to consume all 20 000 litres of beer that has been stocked for the event.

If you can, follow the races on one of the various live feeds, pop a bottle of Belgian beer open, have some ‘frites’ with it and enjoy the biggest race race of the season!

Photos by cyclephotos.co.uk

See if we managed to capture you – click here

Times are in other post.

Ta

Dean

We took some pics over the weekend and will put them on our flickr account over the next day or two.

Just a taster though….

Ta 

Sunday update

Hi. Roads are suprisingly good. so all go for the event. As below. the planned Long loop[ is still out but it you really want the extra miles then we have signed the Medium loop for you to do twice. It’s hopefully going to be a stunning day and I’ve been driving over the hills with millions of twinkling lights stretching out to the horizon……… let’s hope it holds!!

Ta

Dean

Just wanted to update anyone coming along to the Sportive tomorrow. Looking at the weather forecast for Sunday it looks like we are going to have some bad weather from about midday. With this is mind we have closed the long route due to it’s remoteness as we don’t want riders our our staff to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. If the weather holds and those signed up for the long want to do extra, then there will be the oppourtuninty to do a loop twice to get the miles in. We have also made a few other alterations to the route to cut out potential issues.

I will be out tomorrow early morning and will try and update this blog.

Thanks

Dean

Well, that was a bit of a mixed day! As per usual I got to put out the Long route on the sportive today, which came with the two steepest climbs of the day It’s a bit chilly here ( but still shorts weather ) so I had a t-shirt, Gore windstopper and light weight waterproof on as I set out from Todmorden. It’s a couple of miles gentle uphill from here before a right and under a bridge to the start of the Shore Road climb, This is a long, steep climb but it’s not as bad as it seems, there’s nothing over 25% and there are a few flatish bits to give you a breather. So, select low gear, grit your teeth and up you go, through house lined roads until a sharp right brings you to open farm land, another sharp, almost hairpin, left and the steepest stretch is in front of you. Past this and the climbing eases off with a few steep sections keeping you on your toes and out of the saddle. If you have time, look to your left and you can see the big windfarm which you’ll be heading to after you’ve beaten this incline. Up front you’ll see some smaller turbines, just past these are your goal. At the top I had cold fingers, but was boiling with all my zips undone ! Once you’re up, and providing the wind is behind you, there is a fantastic open stretch of road heading towards Burnley. Anyway, I could go on and on but I’m sure you don’t want to here about every pedal stroke.  Here’s my route and all the info you could want… Deans Long route on Garmin Connect

In general the routes are all in remote areas so make sure you have spares with you, the roads are in fairly good condition, but you don’t want to get stuck out there with a puncture. Mobile phones might not work so although we will come to your aid, it might take from 30mins to an hour to get to you!

The MTB is virtually the same as last year, it’s a good fun route Expect good ground conditions on all weather trails, some steep hills, perhaps a push or two and some great views. Again, remote trails so make sure you have spares.

Weather – looking at the weather forecast, it’s getting colder and the forecasters keep mentioning snow…… As far ar we are concerned the rides are going ahead, so take advantage of the free Gore clothing on offer. If, however, the weather does get really bad and we consider this to be dangerous, then we will either cancel or redesign the route – I will announce this here at the top on the morning of each day at 7am. If there is no announcement  then the ride is on.

Parking – Please do not turn left in front of the school as this is a small cul-de-sac and there is not parking available for us there. Just past the school on the left is a carpark and when this is full, please park on the road.

Remember it’s NOT a race

Just a reminder that these rides are not races in any shape or form. Please treat other road and trail users with respect and patience, always give way and be courteous. Do not ride more than two abreast on roads where it’s not safe to do so, STOP at junctions and be aware that there might be something big around that blind corner. We do not insure you for your actions on our rides – if you hit a car it’s down to you to pay for the damage!

GPX files.

Trying something new here. Below is a link to a folder with ALL the files in, so just click download on the file you need. There are three files that say “for GARMIN only” these are for GARMIN 800 units only as they have different waypoints but contain info for the units to use turn by turn giudance

Rochdale 12 GPX files  ( I know it’s spelt wrong BTW)

Ta

Dean

Ben Hart
Director of Marketing & Ecommerce

My daily commute is a 10 mile each way trip to and from the Evans Cycles head office at Gatwick which I do rain, shine or snow! 10 miles is a great distance for a commute – long enough to get a work out and short enough to put up with the cold and foul weather that winter can throw at you.

Riding throughout the winter is easy, as long as you’ve got the right kit, and Balint has asked me to share some of my kit advise. I’m going to start with my top recommendation for winter commuting, it’s going to seem quite extravagant, but if you are commuting year round and it’s your main form of transport the best investment you can make is on a winter commuting bike.

A winter commuter is not a specific type of bike like a mountain bike, road bike or cyclo cross bike (it could be any of those), it’s simply a bike that you’ve relegated to winter commuting duties. It doesn’t have to be flash, light, fancy or fast, it’s sole purpose in life is to get you from A to B. Winter commuters are workhorses, designed to be ridden into the ground, to be neglected from maintenance duties, apart from a weekly pump up of the tyres and lube of the chain, and if they’re lucky a semi-regular service.

Of course the benefit of a dedicated winter machine is your good bike (in my case a much loved Colnago road bike) stays wrapped up snug in the shed over the cold and icy months, not having to be exposed to the damaging winter conditions which eat away at chains, cassettes and cables. And when the seasons turn and the sun and warmth come out of hibernation so can your good bike, swapping places with the winter commuter who takes their place until next winter.

In terms of essential kit for a winter workhorse a set of full length mudguards with stays is a must – these make riding in rainy days enjoyable, safe in the knowledge that nasty puddles have little effect in damping you down. For full length mudguards you’ll need to make sure your frame has eyelets for mounting the guards, otherwise you can install some P clips to attach them to the frame. My other essential bit of kit for the commuter is a good set of lights. My commute takes me on unlit roads with a resonable amount of traffic so I need to see and be seen. my combo is an exposure front light linked to an exposure red eye rear light – all powered from the front light unit. these lights are hassle free and if you use them mainly on the flashing mode will last all week without a charge.

In the clothing department the items I can’t live without are my under helmet hat (to keep my balding head nice n toasty on cold mornings. A buff around my neck which can easily be pulled up over my face for chillier mornings. And last but not least a set of winter cycling boots – waterproof shoes that keep your feet dry and warm. In my opinion these are much better than standard overshoes, they don’t disintigrate which overshoes do after a winter of commuting.

Peter Jones
Contact Centre Manager
All in all, its been a mild winter, well it has been here in the South East. My 40 mile commute hasn`t been interupted at all which is a first for me. The only change I`ve had to make is the bike. I don`t have a winter bike as such and prefer to use my mountain bike rather than my Cervelo. Both bikes are pretty well specced so my maintenance schedule tends to be pretty high as I do like to keep them clean.

Being selective with the cleaning though does make life a lot easier though. Of course, the bike will get a proper wash when it needs it but there are certain areas that require more attention than usual. Taking into account that the bike has had its service for winter, a good cable set will keep the crud out and keep everything functioning as normal, I keep a close eye on the condition of the tyres for cuts and debris but also their pressures. Running them at a decent pressure helps to prevent punctures as you roll over obstacles rather than into them. Think of that comedy sketch where the comedian stands on the business end of the garden rake and gets a wallop from the handle. Its the same with tyres. That nail that punctured your tyre WAS lying down. Lower tyre pressures will “pick up” obstacles, so if you have to adjust your pressures for grip, 10psi is enough.

Anyone using rim brakes will need to keep the braking surface clean along with the brake pads as you`ll wear them out a lot quicker during the darker months. One area which always attracts attention though is the transmission. There are plenty of cleaners on the market which will do the job perfectly. I will always dislocate the transmission from the bike though. As well as looking at the parts for closer inspection, I give them a clean in White Spirit. This will help to loosen that thick wet lube we all use in the winter. One good scrub and rinse, they come up like new. Using spirit on your bike can loosen the finish of your paint work so ensure you`ve removed any parts first. When fitted back to the bike check the chain for wear. If you don`t have a chain checker try pulling the chain away from the chainring. This is the tightest point of the chain around the transmission so if you can pass a pencil through here your chain is worn and you may need to replace your cassette and chainrings. When dry, lube the chain on the inside not the out side. The chain only touches the rings and cassette on one side so this will keep your chain cleaner, last longer and prevent your gunky chain collecting any debris which will only wear it out quicker.

With the bike taken care of, its worth checking all the other bits attached to it. Pannier bags for holes and waterproofing, fresh batteries for lights and their fittings etc. Otherwise a good set of waterproof gloves, winter boots or overshoes and a helmet hat will help to keep your ends warm!

Rupert Robinson
Contact Centre Manager

Winter riding always seems to be the hardest thing when the weather is bad! I push myself to do this so that it can benefit my summer riding and keep my fitness levels up.
Key things I check daily when riding is the condition of my tyres including pressure and the general surface area and also how clean my chain is. A dirty chain can make changing difficult and having the correct pressures alleviates the chances of getting a puncture.
On these rides key things I would not ride without is a decent set of lights (if riding in the dark), my Seal Skinz All Weather Gloves and my Endura Overshoes.

And if you want to see how the pros prepare for the season, enter our competition where you can win a trip to Majorca to ride with Team Raleigh – the sunny Spain will be a nice break for one lucky winner from the gloomy British winter!

Well, after reviewing the Fuji for a year, and covering around 4,000 miles, it’s time to hand it back to Evans Cycles. I have to say that I will be sorry to see it go, as it has been both reliable and comfortable, and a most enjoyable ride.

Looking back over the year – I had started in late January after four months without riding (real life sometimes gets in the way!), and regaining fitness was always going to be a challenge, so regular commuting to Guildford on the Fuji (16 mile round trip including the first hill of the Olympic road race) certainly helped. Longer and harder rides at the weekends helped build up the mileage and a bit more speed, and soon I was maintaining my minimum target of 100 miles per week.

I’ve managed to fit in several sportives during the year, starting with the King of the Downs in May (the half-sportive – 55miles with five challenging hills) which felt a bit early for me, i.e. painful, though very satisfying. I finished with the Cycling Weekly Epic sportive (101 miles) in October, (the Fuji actually appears twice in the sportive video).

I had also planned to ride a few time trials before the end of the season, but my times on an, admittedly slow, 10 mile training loop were falling just outside the VTTA standard, so I decided to give it a miss this year.

Mechanically, the Fuji has been incredibly reliable, only a bent rear mech hanger (reason unknown) early in the year, which was quickly replaced by Evans Guildford branch.
I’ve only two minor niggles: the white saddle, which, though being a good shape and very comfortable, became grey after just a few rides, rather spoiling the smart appearance of the bike. The economy slick tyres, though fine in the dry, have very poor grip in the wet, which is not good now we are riding wet muddy lanes again.

Summing up the Fuji Team 2, if you only want one road bike, and on a sensible budget, this all-rounder will do the job. It is sold as a sportive/racer, and is well below the £1,000 threshold. It is tough enough for commuting on rough roads, and I’ve found it very comfortable on long sportives. I haven’t raced on it, but have ridden some fairly hard group rides/chaingangs, and felt confident in its abilities. It’s certainly worth trying for racing, though you might want to supplement a set of race wheels. When you consistently finish in the top ten, it may be time to consider an upgrade, but in the meantime, you can have a lot of fun on the Fuji.

BIKE
Something with at least 150mm travel – Spicy, Remedy or similar for maximum fun on the downs and pedal the climbs.
Dual ply tyres, Minions are ideal.
Dropper seatpost – Reverb or similar.
Chain device – Straitline worked for me.
Timing device if you really want to look pro-race.

Spares: take everything you have, something will break during your time there! Tubes, tyres, mechs, hangers, saddle, pedals, brake pads, bleed kit and don’t forget the kitchen sink. There are plenty of shops though so don’t worry too much, but they are expensive. Take all of your tools too.

KIT
Full face helmet of course. You will meet many rocks.
Body armour – 661 evo suit saved my bones many times.
Hydration pack, anything will do.
A jacket to keep you warm up the top of the glacier at 6am!

RACE TIPS
Qualifier: this is where the race is won or lost! Your start position is ranked on previous races, so will be a bit random basically unless you are pro! To get into the main race you need to finish in the top 75 of your 200 or so wave. So…elbows out, don’t get pushed around in the start melee, practice the course, know the lines – anywhere within the tape is fair game, so look out for sneaks across or around berms, drops, corners you can cut..anything to get you ahead! Don’t crash like I did and get your wheel mangled.  Watch the 2011 qualifier here.
 
Riding at altitude: if you are anything like me, you’ll spend all week enjoying the uplifts and generally heading down hill non stop. Fantastic fun, but come race day there are some healthy climbs that had me pretty much lung bursting due to the high altitude – so try and do a little bit of XC, or hire a road bike in Alpe D’uez and do the famous climb before the Tour arrives in town! I recommend these guys.

Race day: Be on time! It takes a long time to get everyone up in the gondola, so make sure you are on time, no queue jumping now please. Depending on how much snow there is, a walking, running or pedalling start is optional. Elbows out, the odd foot down, and just try to stay upright is my best advice – take care if you traverse the glacier at speed. Try and overtake whenever you can – generally there will be bunch ups on technical sections so barrel through is my advice and shout ‘allez allez’ a lot for people to get out the way.

Pedal, pedal, pedal! Have an awesome ride, and enjoy a well earned beer by the time you arrive in Allemont! Salut!