Ride with Brad

Way before Bradley Wiggins was given his Yellow Jersey to keep, and received yet another golden gong  our meeting was already scheduled.
The 19th of August 2012.
Yes - before the Tour de France and Olympics Bradley had set up the Bradley Wiggins Foundation

A charity with clear aims and objectives
To promote participation in sport and encourage people to exercise on a regular basis

To support keen and talented athletes from all sports who have the potential of taking their talent to the next level
To provide equipment or facilities to allow participation in sport as an individual, through clubs, local communities or schools

To launch the foundation he organised a sportive to take place in the local area where he trained.

Judging by his accent, and believing he was a London Boy, I rubbed my hands together thinking the only hill that might trouble me would be at  Highgate.

Unfortunately Bradley now lives 'Up North'  and trains on the Pennines around the Yorkshire/Lancashire border. The location for the ride.

Not appreciating any future pain from the comfort of my desk -I entered the event , coaxing some of my fellow Anglo Mules to join me.

Later when I saw that some of the climbs had 'names' - I realised that they must be significant.
Hills or mountains don't normally have names unless they have some sort of personality.

The Iconic 'Nick of Pendle' and 'Trough of Bowland' both had plenty, if they were human they would be absoloute rotters.
Both were featured in my book '100 greatest cycling climbs' by Simon Warren.



On arriving at Barnoldswick I soon realised that this was no ordinary Sportive.
There was a real buzz of excitement within what I can only describe as a cycling village.
As we were corralled into starting pens our turn eventually came which saw us take our place at the front of the cordoning ribbon.

The MC who was entertaining the crowing crowd and linking in to the local radio station spotted our equine shirts. Within seconds a microphone was pressed in front of me asking me to talk about 'The Mules'.
My mind was on forthcoming gradients, not witty remarks, so my response was tepid.
It wouldnt be the only time that my tongue would abandon me that day.
   

Thankfully I was saved by the bell and we were off

A quartet of pink and black in perfect Symmetry.

Wherever there were houses there were people.....hundreds of them with placards and Union jacks.

The love for Bradley Wiggins overflowed so much, that even us mere mortals were able to lap some of it up.

It provided such a lift, that it was like a verbal  anesthetic. It numbed the pain of constantly pushing into the red zone.

The first 15 miles were similar to the wolds with  rolling hills.

Fuelled my adrenaline we were averaging just short of 18 mph.

This was abruptly reduced  by a flock of sheep that were being moved out to pasture.

What a great idea........I nearly followed.!

What did follow was Waddington Fell.

As we moved onto the bigger climbs the roads were chalked and dozens of spectators lined the road to bring a welcome cheer upon the barren moors.

On reaching Sabden I could see the road wind out in front of me far, far into the distance.
The vista was not horizontal but vertical.
As climbs go this was by no means the toughest but it was certainly the most beautiful and awe inspiring that I have ever climbed. (The pictures are not from the day but feature various stages of the climb)

The closer I got to the top the bigger the crowds got, and the louder the applause became .

Dozens of people were forced to walk as the increased gradient opened up the lactic acid valves on lower limbs.

I knew that my feet would remain in my cleats.

Each cheer I harnessed into another turn of the crank and another few meters closer to the summit.  

After the summit - came the descent where Mark registered 48 mph - MAD F***ER!!!!

We then moved into an area that was once described as a wild and lawless region: an area "fabled for its theft, violence and sexual laxity. Interesting.

 It was an area which was the centre of the Pendle witch trials in 1612, a date which is recorded on its imposing landscape.

As the event drew to an end I knew that I was nearly empty and I was starting to struggle.

The rain came making the roads slippy and the narrow ascents became more taxing.

On one such ascent I heard a voice next to me. 'Keep going, your doing really well, there is not far to go now' glancing over - It was him.

The Tour de France winner, and Multiple gold medal  Olympian. Bradley Wiggins

I had rehearsed this moment in my head for weeks, like an outside Oscar nominee.

I would talk about the Mules, ask about the Tour.etc etc

Instead all I could offer was a gormless starstruck smile and a shriek 'Bradley'

He did smile back before smoothly accelerating away from me.

 WHAT A DAY

Nice one Bradley

Winning gold on the back of winning the Tour would perhaps put me into a different bracket as an athlete,' says Bradley Wiggins.

Bradley Wiggins is targeting both the Tour de France yellow jersey and Olympic gold next summer and believes British Cycling will decide in the next few weeks which events he should target at the London Games.

Fresh from winning silver in the world time trial in Copenhagen and helping Mark Cavendish to gold in the road race, Wiggins said he believes more strongly than ever that securing an unprecedented double is possible.

"I've done the Olympics, this will be my fourth, I've been there and got the golds. They haven't changed my life but winning the Tour would certainly change my life," he said. "Winning gold on the back of winning the Tour would certainly change my life and perhaps put me into a different bracket as an athlete."

Wiggins said it was the prospect of combining a serious challenge in the Tour, in which he finished fourth in 2009 but had to withdraw with a broken collarbone this year, with an Olympic challenge that had fired his enthusiasm for the Games.

"It's never been done so I think if I wasn't doing the tour next year and I was just going back to do the team pursuit and I had the winter to look forward to of going back on the track, the World Cups, the world championships in March and all that it wouldn't excite me at all," said the six-times Olympic medallist.

"I would really not be looking forward to it. The only way I'd ever do the track now is by coming back off the road. It's got to excite you to be able to do it."

The Team Sky rider – who has three Olympic golds, a silver and two bronzes in his collection – said he saw winning the Tour and securing a medal at the Games, which starts days after the Champs-Elysées finish to the Tour, as two halves of the same challenge.

"As crazy as it sounds to everyone, I don't see it as compromising one for the other. That's what I want to do – it's not a case of justifying why I'm doing it either," said Wiggins. "This is what I want to do, follow me and see what the results are and we'll talk about it afterwards. I'm doing it."

He said completing the Tour of Spain after breaking his collarbone and completing "the time trial of my life" at the world championships proved he could compete in both disciplines.

Wiggins said that given the choice he would compete in "everything" at the Olympics but he is likely to target the team pursuit on the track over the time trial on the road. "I'll ride the event I've got most chance of winning gold in and at this stage that will probably be the team pursuit, I imagine," he said. He said his coach, Shane Sutton, and others at British Cycling had "probably" already made the decision and expected to hear in "the next few weeks".

Wiggins, who set Cavendish up for his momentous victory on the final lap, hailed a "fantastic team performance" that helped the Manx rider to gold.

"Our plan worked perfectly. We always knew if we got him to that finish straight he'd be the fastest rider there. That's part of the belief the whole team had, that's why there was such commitment from everyone because knew Mark was going to finish it off," he said. "It's like a football team with the best striker in the world. Our job was quite easy in some respects in that we knew there was a 99% chance he was going to finish it off. It was an incredible day."

Wiggins said being able to hit the front with a lap to go was the "dream scenario". "It was like a relay race and we handed on the baton in perfect position each time until the home straight where I was able to give Mark the home stretch. It was phenomenal really," said Wiggins.

"I was always expecting the shit to hit the fan. I was like a dog on a leash who kept being held back to take over the reins with a lap to go. It couldn't have gone better really."

Displaying the focus that has been a feature of the evolution of British Cycling over the past decade, Wiggins said home advantage would not be a factor.

"It could be in Baghdad or anywhere it shouldn't change the performance in that velodrome," he said. "I haven't seen the velodrome, I don't really want to see it. That sounds dull but I don't want it to have any bearing or impetus on it. It shouldn't change the performance that day because the crowd's made up of more Brits or your family is there."

Owen Gibson guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 27 September 2011

Come on Bradley

Bradley Wiggins will make his Team Sky debut in Qatar

Wiggins finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France
Three-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins will make his debut for Team Sky at the Tour of Qatar, which starts on 7 February.

Wiggins had a superb 2009, capped by finishing fourth in the Tour de France.

He launched his season last year by taking the leader's jersey in the Tour of Qatar after his team won the time trial opening stage.

Wiggins, 29, had been scheduled to make his debut in France on 3 February but Italian Davide Vigano will now fill in.

Sparta
Wiggins will be supported at the Tour of Qatar, in what the team says is a "strong" line-up, by the likes of Edvald Boasson Hagen, Juan Antonio Flecha and Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

Fellow British riders Russell Downing, Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard will also be in action for Sky.
from BBC website

Reach for the Sky

As the New Year dawns, Britain is gripped by Arctic conditions making cycling something that I can only read about at the moment.
Nevertheess, my blog will now continue again and grow in readiness for this years cycling calender.
There will be the usual attempt at humour, related articles and things to read and watch.
This year promises a lot. It is great to have a British cyling Team and some British riders to get excited about.
What a god way to start off the blog.



Bradley Wiggins is confident that Britain's new Team Sky road racing team is strong enough to give him a chance of winning this year's Tour de France.
Speaking at Sky's launch on Monday, Wiggins - who finished fourth in the Tour in 2009 - said: "If I'm ever going to win it, it will be with this team.
"It is a long way off but we can match any other team that will be there.
"To be honest it is the only race that matters. How we get on will be how the team is judged so it remains the goal."
Wiggins, 29, a triple Olympic gold medallist on the track, left Garmin to join Team Sky before Christmas and is already impressed by the new set-up, which has an objective of supplying the first British winner of the Tour by 2015.
Sky are not a one man team - Brailsford
"From what I've seen, we are heading in the right direction," Wiggins explained. "(Team principal) Dave Brailsford will always listen to what you say and he's said right from the start that this is our team and he is not going to dictate to us what to do.
"I've noticed a big difference already in the way the little things are done and their professionalism, in a relaxed way, too. A lot of it is just common sense in looking after the riders but a lot of other teams lack it.
"And whatever things we think need improving along the way, Dave is open to making this the best team in the world and he will change whatever he feels he needs to.
"But, at this stage, everything feels fine. We won't know any weaknesses until we get into the racing season."


Some Sky riders are already taking part in events in Australia and the squad will take part in the Tour Down Under, which starts on 19 January.
And, ahead of the start of the new season, rising GB cycling star Ben Swift has been confirmed as Team Sky's latest member.
Swift, from Rotherham, rode for Russian team Katusha last year but got out of the remaining year of his contract to join the British team.
The 22-year-old was unveiled at the team's launch ceremony and said: "It feels like coming home because I know so many of the support staff and the riders. I will be in the perfect environment to grow as a rider."
Brailsford said: "Ben is a real talent and his future looks bright because he ticks all the boxes that it takes to make it in this sport.
"He's extremely serious, skilled on bike, he can climb and sprint and I really believe he can go far with us.
"We've worked quite some time with him on the track and I think the next years could be a massive breakthrough for him on the road as well."

Swift was part of the GB team at the world road championships
Swift, who won a stage of last year's Tour of Britain, added: "Next year I'd like to ride another Grand Tour, but a big focus for me is the Track World Championships (in Copenhagen in March).
"I want to ride the team pursuit at the London Olympics. Then I'll concentrate fully on the road - that's the career I've mapped out."
Swift takes the total number of Britons in the Team Sky squad to eight.
Sky's start-up cost is reported to be £35m, with 26 riders of 12 different nationalities comprising the roster.
Brailsford said: "We started talking a long time ago about setting up a top-level British team but needed to reach a critical mass of riders to achieve it. Now here we are.
"We're ambitious but the key thing for us is to make sure everything is centred on the rider.
"We want to treat the riders with dignity and respect so that they can be the best then can be.
"People need to be motivated to get the best out of them and we want them to achieve excellence.
"Team spirit is critical to us so the personality of the riders played a big part in our recruitment."