“She’s happiest hurtling around on a bike, whether it’s on the road or up a mountain, so keeping her still long enough to ask a few questions was a challenge in itself. We managed to grab a few minutes with her after a long day of cycling at Bike Park Wales to find out how she finds fits her hobbies and work into 24 hours…”

I recently spent a weekend in Wales riding my mountain bike at Bike Park Wales and taking the new Peugeot 208 for a razz about the Brecon Beacons. The car company invited me to show them how I re-energise myself, which in case you hadn’t guessed it already, I tend to do by riding a bike. Well, either that or by taking a nap…

Head on over to the Peugeot website to read the full interview they made with me after a day riding the new blue trail at Bike Park Wales and check out the video we made too.

Now all I have to do is decide which bike to ride or whether to have a nap, haha.

A few weeks ago, myself and several other enthusiastic bike racers – Jess Duffy, Sophie Edmonson and Celeste Morton were brought together to discuss women’s racing at London Bike Kitchen’s Wagfest event. During our hour long discussion we shared our experiences of cycle racing, how we’d fared as newcomers to the mysterious world, and why we thought that more women should give racing a go. We all received really positive feedback from the women listening, many of whom were considering racing.

It was also quite eye-opening to discover how little some women have been able to find out for themselves about getting in to bike racing of any discipline and how that had discouraged them from trying, so in the spirit of encouraging more women to take the plunge I wrote a list of reasons why they should and my top tips beginner racers for my monthly post on the Velovixen blog. Click here to go to the Velovixen site to read the feature.

My tips come from my own experiences as a new newcomer – have you any of your own to add? Let me know if the comments below! .

The guys at ProBikeKit recently got in touch to see if I’d like to try out some of their wide range of sports nutrition products; a mighty fine idea as I get through a hell of a lot of food so that kind of thing is always welcome!

Since getting more into the athletic side of cycling I’ve tried out an awful lot of energy bars, gels and drinks because I know firsthand how not refuelling properly can really mess up your ride, in fact I now try to keep ‘emergency’ gels in my saddle bag in case the dreaded ‘bonk’ occurs and my energy levels crash when I’m miles from home.

I do like making my own energy and protein bars (I’ve been trying out lots of recipes which I’ll share with you once I’m happy with them) because homemade products tend to have a shorter, more recognisable list of ingredients, but I also like to have a stash of shop-bought products for convenience because sometimes I just can’t be bothered with the faff. And some of the shop bought products taste so good that I find them hard to resist.

I chose to give a couple of relatively new PowerBar products a go, the Energize Wafers and Powergel Shots. For a comprehensive overview of what other products ProBikeKit have on offer, click here.

First up, the gels. I have a problem with most liquid gels apart from Science In Sport’s Isotonic Gels and Clif Bar’s Clif Blocs quite simply because most of the other ones taste vile, but the chewy Powergel orange shots taste lovely and are enjoyable to eat. Five shots is equivalent to one of the regular PowerGels, but as you get 9 in a pack you can vary the amount you eat in one go.

They’re quite a firm consistency and didn’t get sticky in the heat. The main ingredients are glucose syrup, sugar and water then you’ve got some natural flavourings and disappointingly, gelatine, which I didn’t realise before I ate them (so they’re not vegetarian).

Before a race, I feel it’s preferable just to quickly slurp a regular gel rather than chow down on a packet of sweeties, so I found the shots work best when taken intermittently on a longer ride – they’re enjoyable to eat and seemed to keep me ticking along nicely. I tended to eat three at a time as little boost – it’s hardly worth getting the pack out of your jersey pocket for one at a time, but if you struggle to eat on the bike then a little and often approach might benefit you.

The shots contain a C2Max carbohydrate blend which they claim adds fast energy absorption and then you have a an electrolyte-filled centre which for ‘added refreshment,’ apparently. I say that’s clearly marketing rubbish; how can a chewy sweet ever be refreshing?

My verdict? A great product, let down by the use of gelatine – now I know it’s in them I’ve had to give the whole box away!

I fared better with the PowerBar Energize Wafer, because they also taste great but this time don’t contain anything I can’t eat.

The lightweight, individually wrapped bars are crisp and crunchy and don’t melt in your jersey pocket. Apparently they don’t freeze either, though luckily I’ve not had a chance to put that to the test yet. The chocolate peanut flavoured bars tasted really good, but with little peanut flavour – a shame really, because I adore peanut butter!

The wafers are fairly, though not overly dry – they don’t suck the moisture out of your mouth but you’d want to have a glug of water with them. They make a nice alternative to your standard oaty or chewy energy bar, and seeing as I eat so many of those things I welcomed the chance to mix things up. They’re very sweet, so although I enjoy them I definitely wouldn’t eat more than one per ride, but then I wouldn’t really want to eat more than one energy bar on a ride – I prefer to get my food from other sources, for instance a cafe stop.

27.2 grams of carbohydrates per 40g bar is delivered via PowerBar’s C2Max glucose/fructose carbohydrate blend. So does the bar work – does it deliver the energy you need and keep you from an energy crash? Well as with all these kind of casual reviews, it’s hard to truly know whether it was the product that gave you a boost, or if it was a sudden desire to get home to watch Corrie or a tail wind giving you a helping hand. It’s also hard to know whether any other kind of food would have done the job equally as effectively. All I know if that I liked eating it!

The verdict: yes please!

Riding my first ever Red Hook Crit back in July was an amazing experience – the race itself, the atmosphere, the people, just everything about it hooked me straight in and made me want to sign up for the next race in the series immediately.

As Dave and I had been officially homeless whilst we waited for the purchase of our new house to go through, we’d missed out on the all the pre-events in London and we’d also missed out on the after party because I was driving and we were crashing an hour and half’s drives away, so when we signed up for Barcelona we decided to take a full week off work to immerse ourselves in the experience and have a little holiday.

After nearly a full month of rain in August I couldn’t wait to get to Barcelona to ride my bike in the sun, hang out on the beach, go to the velodrome, check out the architecture, eat good food, drink beer… and race!

What a heavenly holiday!

After arriving in Barcelona on the Tuesday, we headed off to explore, check out the beach and have a swim in the warm Mediterranean water, before grabbing some incredibly cheap beers and hanging out on the rooftop terrace of our apartment in El Raval. Having never been to Barcelona before I’d had no idea in which area to stay so we’d really fell on our feet when a friend offered to rent us his apartment there. I immediately took to El Raval because the district has a really nice feel, with a diverse mix of nationalities trading, tons of skateboarders sessioning the ledges outside the MACBA, the odd hipster joint and a place that sold amazing fries for a Euro. Apparently the area didn’t use to be that nice but the Barcelona City Council invested some money into cleaning it up, rejuventating the Rambla Del Raval in the process – I thought was a lovely street for an evening stroll through the palms and a beer at an outside café.

On Thursday, we woke up late to rainy skies and were unsure whether the track day organised by Pista Barcelona would be going ahead, which was a real shame as we’d been looking forward to having a shred and meeting some of the other riders we’d be hanging out with at the beach the day before. Despite the rain, we took a leap of faith that paid off, riding up Barcelona’s numerous small hills (fairly challenging with track gearing!) to find the beautifully refurbished Velodrome D’Horta was totally dry. It turned out the track is the same dimensions and angle as the Newport Velodrome but riding outside in the sunshine was a totally different experience, to say the least. I did a few flying laps to give my legs a wakeup ahead of the weekend’s race (they felt rubbish) then it was back to the beach for more sunning and beers.

Yes, I like beer a lot.

Friday meant yet more beaching it, a potter about the city and dragging Dave to look at art and architecture, which was a bit of a fail as we didn’t realise quite how long you have to wait before you can enter some of the more famous Gaudi buildings. Even Park Guell, the Gaudi park, had a wait of nearly three hours.

Friday night was the Dosnoventa pre-event party, which was absolutely ram jammed with people all the way down the streets, filling the roof top and spilling out of the store. The only drinks on offer were coconut water, which is gross, or beer, so it took all my willpower to sip a drink slowly rather than guzzling and dashing back for more.

In the end, Dave and I had to just go home otherwise we’d have kept on drinking and the race the next day would have been quite unpleasant… the Red Hook Crit is hard enough as it is, without doing hungover.

Stay tuned for the second instalment – Red Hook Crit Race Day

Charge Bikes recently dispatched myself and Dave off to Dartmoor to enjoy a most delightful camping experience with Canopy and Stars, ride the new Charge 27 Plus bikes and film a little video.

 
Like when we went to Japan last year, our good friend Alex Rankin took our footage and magically transformed it into a rather nice video which you can watch below. And because they’re really rather nice folks at Charge and Canopy and Stars and they didn’t want you to get all jealous and cry when you see what wonderful fun Dave and I had on our trip, they’re giving you the opportunity to win an identical stay at The Nest in Leewood, and a brand new Charge bike to take with you.

Watch the video below to find out how to enter. Good luck!

After several days enjoying late nights on the town and sunbathing, the day before the Red Hook Crit Barcelona I remembered that I was actually in town to do a race, rather than just drink beer and lounge on the beach. Well, it wasn’t like I’d forgotten, I just hadn’t really been thinking about it much so my race prep was pretty much non-existent, in fact you could say I’d done the absolute reverse of preparing by not getting much sleep, rest or healthy food!

The day of the race we cooked what has become our standard race meal – spinach and ricotta tortellini with pesto and chopped olives and raw tomatoes on top – and packed all the bits and pieces one needs for a race; my favourite Science In Sport gels, Nuun Electrolight tablets, Clif Bars, my Garmin Edge 1000 and a heart rate monitor. I was looking forward to wearing my usual race outfit – Assos Chronosuit, Oakley Frogskins, Met Stradivarius helmet and had a brand spanking new pair of Giro Espada shoes. Luckily, Taxc were providing rollers for the riders to warm up on so we hadn’t needed to travel with those. I added a blanket to my hefty kit bag so that we could create our own little hangout space then we headed down to Park Del Forum to get set up.

The location of the Red Hook Crit Barcelona is superb – right next to the sea and just along from the famous curved walls that you may recognize from numerous BMX videos and we were very excited to be there. We were very lucky with the weather too, it was warm and sunny but not mega hot, and crucially after a damp week that had made us nervous of a rainy race, it was dry.

The course looked extremely fast rather than technical, with some long open sections that I knew wouldn’t suit me as well as a tighter, trickier track might. There was one full on hairpin turn, but other than that there wasn’t a great deal that would slow you down so I knew it was going to be tougher than the London race.

Lining up at the start of the qualifications, for some reason I felt quite nervous, which was odd because I hadn’t felt intimidated at all at my first Red Hook Crit in London in July. Maybe it was because I wanted to deliver a good performance, whereas in London I had no expectations of myself? Either way, I looked down at my Garmin and could see that my heart was racing before we’d even begun.

After a large number of crashes in the qualifiers in London, the organiser David Trimble had changed the format of the qualifications so that you had fifteen minutes to ride around and learn the course, then ten minutes in which to set you fastest lap (I think?). I was unsure whether the new format would actually make things worse with more riders trying to squeeze their hot lap into a shorter time, but it turned out to make total sense I think. In the end I qualified 17th from a field of 44 then we had a few hours to enjoy the sunshine.

When it was time for the race, we gathered at the start ready for our ceremonial lap with David Trimble before riding a loop of the course to the cheers of the crowd. Back at the start line, we were called to our grid positions by name, which made me feel like a bit of a gladiator, then the countdown began and once everyone had clipped in it was game on.

The race was super fast right off the bat, with the fastest ladies pushing hard to get away so I dug deep to stay as close to the front as I could and managed to stay in the lead group for quite a while. The pace was way faster than in London, and as I suspected, the long, open stretches of course were tiring and I looked forward to the techy bits as it gave my legs and lungs a small rest.

 
There was some aggressive manouevers going on, with two people in succession bullying their way through my line on a corner and forcing me to go wide to avoid them – basically if I’d have held my line they would have crashed, so what you gonna do, eh? Unfortunately that made me fall back a bit and I got super tired dangling out on my own behind the lead group whilst trying to close the gap. I could hear someone behind me (Kelli Samuelson I think?) giving me a verbal boost and encouraging me to keep pushing, and it really helped, so thanks Kelli if that was you.

After we’d ridden about half the race, there was an accident that resulted in the race being stopped so we all had to regroup at the start to begin again and finish the remaining laps. It turned out that the person who’d crashed was Fleur Faure, and as she wanted to rejoin the race we all stood and waited for her to come up to the front of the pack so we could go again. At the risk of sounding unpopular, I thought it was a very odd decision to do that – generally if you crash in a race, you either need to withdraw or try and catch up, so stopping the race was peculiar and not particularly fair.

It was no time before we were off again, and before I knew it my lungs and legs were heartily complaining once again – it felt sooooo much harder than the race in London. Looking at my Strava data, I can see that I was in Heart Rate Zone 5 for longer than I was in London, though because my Garmin didn’t pause whilst we waited for the race to restart, it’s hard to accurately compare the data.

As I was getting tired, I decided my best tactic was to try and move up a few places on the bits I was best at riding – the corners, which was in contrast to most people’s tactics of sprinting round you on the straights. I managed to move up a place each time I went around the hairpin turn, so in the end I finished 20th, which isn’t as high as I’d have liked, but I know that I tried as hard as I damn could so I’m in no doubt I could have done any better!

So has the training I’ve done been worth it? Well at time of Red Hook Crit Barcelona, I had just ten weeks of training under my belt, so I suppose taking that into account, I did ok. What I’m struggling with now that the initial euphoria of taking on this challenge has begun to wain and the results of my training are becoming less noticeable, is the fact I’ve spent most of my summer focusing on this aspect of my cycling when there are many other kinds of riding that I’d like to be doing. So is it worth not riding my mountain bike or BMX as much as I want to, just to do kind of OK in the Red Hook Crit? I’m not sure, so I think I’m going to do another one!

All photos: Dave Noakes

The Levi’s Commuter line has been around for a while now – I remember when the collection was first stocked at the now defunct Tokyo Fixed store in Soho, sometime around 2011 at a guess. At the time, I couldn’t quite make out what made the jeans any different to regular ones – they hadn’t done away with all the seams on the crotch area like Swrve did, so what was the point? Surely that’s the most uncomfortable area when cycling in jeans and the first thing to address?

Despite my reservations, I’ve always liked Levi’s jeans, so I was pleased to get my hands on a pair of the new Women’s Levis Commuter skinny jeans this summer, because whether or not they’re good for riding, I knew they’d look good and wear well. After a few months of wearing them, here’s what I found.

The Cut. They’re nice and slim in the leg and look great if you get the right size; if you get a pair that are even slightly too large they can look like ‘mum jeans,’ whereas the perfect size look awesome and are now my favourites. As they come up really big, I’d recommend trying some on before buying them –  I had to go down a couple of waist sizes from what I normally am.

They come up high on the backside so that your bum doesn’t hang out when you pedal, which is great because I cannot stand that!

Comfort. The fabric is soft and comfortable with just the right amount of stretch to allow uninhibited movement – they’re easily the most comfortable pair of jeans I’ve ever ridden in. The waistband doesn’t dig into your stomach when you bend forwards.  The seam in the crotch of the jeans is fairly soft and thin, which is great for comfort but leaves me wondering how long these jeans would last before they wore through.

The Fabric. The fabric is treated with water-repellant Ecropel finishing which is meant to help water bead and roll off the jeans. Whilst they fared slightly better in drizzle than normal jeans, they’re certainly not water repellant. The Ecropel does seem to make it easier to wipe dirt off and the fabric is little lighter than regular jeans, so it breathes better.

The Extras. The jeans have a strip of reflective 3M™ Scotchlite™ material sewn into the seam inside the bottom of the legs that’s visible when you roll up the legs. I like the fact it’s subtle as often this kind of thing is really overdone. Big pockets at the back fit my Kryptonite Mini-D Lock, though there’s no lock holster in the waistband like the original (men’s) commuter jeans.

So my conclusion? The cycling specific features are pretty minimal, so I wouldn’t go and buy these specifically for my commute, but if I was looking to buy a new pair of jeans anyway, I’d get these ones – I like the fit and they’re extremely comfortable, both on and off the bike.

Available in 5 colours and priced at £85.

Photo: Dave Noakes

Earlier this year, Exeter Phoenix secured an Art Council grant to improve it’s range of facilities, and this Autumn a brand new cinema space, Studio 74 will launch after a summer of redevelopment.

The new independent cinema Studio 74 opens with a season of cinema dedicated to Crossing The Line, an innovative series of feature film and shorts exploring moral, ethical, sporting or geographical boundaries and I’m delighted to be involved with a special bike and film night.

Next Thursday, October 8th, join us at Exeter Phoenix to deck yourself out in lights for a canal side neon night ride ride. We’ll roll out together to the lovely Double Locks pub, which is only accessible by bicycle or by foot where you can cosy up with a drink and enjoy a relaxed evening.

To kick things off, I’ll be introducing the evening, showing my Charge Bikes in Japan flick and chatting about my time cycle touring in Japan, then we’ll move onto the main feature –  an exclusive screening of Inspired To Ride.

Following a group of cyclists as they prepare for and compete in the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race, Inspired To Ride documents this absolute beast of a stage race where riders cover 4,233 miles in an ultra endurance epic. I’m really looking forward to watching it! Check out the trailer:

For more info and to book tickets, check out the Crossing The Line and Exeter Phoenix websites.

The region of Catalonia has been in the news a lot recently with thousands joining a rally on the regions national day last month to demand a referendum on independence and the recent regional elections being used by pro secessionists to further demonstrate their beliefs. Having just been treated to a whirlwind tour showcasing some of the best cycling this beautiful area has to offer, I can see why the Catalans are so proud of their region and keen to wrest back control from Spain – it’s bloomin’ marvelous in ever-so-many ways.

Comprised of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona and Lleida, Catalonia’s 7.5 million citizens inhabit a region roughly the size of Belgium that includes stunning coastline, forests, lakes and peaks, along with cosmopolitan cities, medieval villages and more culture than you can shake a stick at. With just five days to see as much as I could, I was faced with a bit of a challenge.

I kicked things off in Barcelona with an organised group bike tour that took us through El Ravel (where I stayed on my last trip) and the Gothic Quarter, down to Barceloneta and the beach and along the seafront to the Olympic park. We pedaled up to the Sagrada Familia before checking out a couple of Gaudi’s buildings on the way back to the bike rental company, our guide giving us a thorough history lesson en route. I always find that cycling is the best way to get a feel for a new city; I’d definitely recommend a tour like this if you’ve never been to Barcelona.

Lovely though Barcelona is, we couldn’t stick around for long if we wanted to see more of Catalonia, so the next morning we took a transfer to the Costa Brava. Part of Girona. the Costa Brava packs in three natural parks, mile after mile of stunning beaches, medieval villages and a whole lot of history. We were on a mission to explore as many of these as we could by following a route inspired by the travels of Christopher Columbus, who just might have started his oversees explorations from the royal village of Pals.

A 25km cycle route and walking path runs from Gualta to the seaside town of Begur, via Gualta and the aforementioned Pals, much of it either along flat, gravel cycle paths through orchards or quiet, rural roads. Not being physically impaired in any way, I wasn’t that stoked on being given an e-bike to ride and kept  gazing enviously at a group of sixty-year-old cycle tourists we twice ran into along the way, but grumbling about power assisted bikes aside, it was a lovely route; really easy going with great scenery.

Pals occupies the top of a small hill on the plains and is ever so attractive and well worth a visit; clutches of brightly coloured flowers tumble down the walls of the houses and it’s all cobbled streets, ramparts and towers from which you can see all the way to the coast. After a brief stop we continued on our way to the seaside town of Begur where we walked along the beach and dined (or lunched) on a plates of garlicky clams, deliciously plump mussels and a fantastic seafood paella whilst gazing at the remarkably blue sea – heavenly.

Our next destinaion was somewhere I’d been wanting to visit for a long time – Girona. The city is home to many pro tour cyclists, with teams often basing themselves there thanks to its quiet roads, warm weather, proximity to Barcelona (around an hour), and great routes in the Pyrenean foothills. It has a strong cycling social scene, with the accompanying cool coffee shops for one to hang out in post ride, and plenty of places to grab a drink whilst comparing tan lines.

On one bank of the Onyar river, Barri Vell, the old part of the city, is packed with history – Girona has been ruled by so many different people, from the Romans, to the Visigoths and the Moors. Quite apart from the cycling connection, I fell in love with Girona straight away; it’s so picturesque and ridiculously romantic. It’s also home to the best ice-cream I’ve even eaten – check out the amazing flavours at Rocambolesc – I had coconut and violet gelato with the most incredible toppings!

The next day we hopped on some (thankfully non-electric) bikes to ride the Green Ways or Vies Verdes to the seaside resort of Sant Feliu de Guixols.

The green way runs along an old railway line, and as such is entirely flat and traffic free. It’s not ideal for road bikes – better suited to a mountain bike, cyclocross bike or hybrid really, so it’s superb for a relaxed ride and would be great if you had kids in tow. We were guided by a local rider who told us that his cycling club regularly hold moonlit rides down the path to the beach where they have a party before riding back – no doubt in less of a straight line!

We rode from Llagostera rather than Girona itself, finishing up by the sea where we all dove straight in to the pleasantly warm water. I’m very much looking forward to repeating the trip with my husband but from Girona.

The next area I was shown around was Costa Daurada, in Tarragona. Like much of Catalonia, the area is blessed with an abundance of glorious beaches, splendid historical towns, mountains, vineyards and olive groves. From what I understand, it’s where many Spanish families head with their buckets and spades.

Away from the coast, the Ruta Del Cister links the three counties of Alt Camp, Conca de Barberà and Urgell, all of which have a Cistercian monastery, namely Poblet, Santes Creus and Vallbona de les Monges. We visited the monastery of Poblet – still in use and a UNESCO world heritage site – and attended Vespers to hear the monks chant in the 12^th century church. It was quite an experience, though I spent much of the time wondering at what point these chaps decided to be monks and why. Did they grow up wanting to be monks? Did something happens that caused them to make this pretty radical choice? To cut a long story short, it was a pretty interesting experience and the architecture was stunning, so I won’t spoil it by going into what I think of organised religion. Each to his own.

We rode along the Ruta Del Cister from Poblet to Montblanc, a walled medieval city with 30 towers making up its fortification. Though we didn’t spend a huge amount of time there, the main square, Placa Major, seemed like a rather nice place to hang out, particularly as there are two exceptional looking patisseries just around the corner. Lunch was at the fantastic Cal Jordi, a restaurant that looks rather ordinary but turns out to serve amazing food, including some great veggie-friendly options. Jordi is a great host – fun, jovial, down to earth and quick to provide a drink! I definitely recommend a visit if you find yourself in Montblanc.

Cycling on the Ruta Del Cister was mainly on gravel cycle paths and quiet roads through vineyards. Some of the inclines with loose, dusty surfaces slightly scared the more novice riders so be warned if you’re taking nervous cyclists with you. It’s ideal terrain for the newest fad, the gravel bike, and as the Ruta Del Cister (apparently) forms part of a large network of signposted trails that run in all the way from France, I think I nice little adventure could be had. I’ve been unable to track down much more information about the extended route. If you have any, would you mind sharing it in the comments below?

Later that day we were back on the bikes to ride the old railway track of Val
de Zafán which has now been converted into a Green Way, or traffic free walking and cycling route. The V.V Val De Zefan begins in the Baix Ebre region in Tortosa and cuts a swathe through Terra Alta. The views left me stunned – the mountains of the Els Port National park are quite unique and unlike anything I’d expected to see in Spain – they more closely resemble peaks I’ve seen in the States than anything I’ve seen in Europe before.

Another highlight was the Fontcalda Sanctuary, a natural swimming area of the Canaletas River which was being well used by groups of delighted children and adults alike. Along with Girona, Terra Alta is 100% definitely somewhere I need to revisit. I spotted this rather awesome looking adventure ready bike there too:

Carry on along the old Vall de Zafan railway track and eventually you arrive in the Ebre Delta National Park, which has a totally different feel with its vast reservoirs, paddy fields and unspoiled beaches. As the area is flat as a pancake and there’s little traffic, I imagine it would be great for blasting along on a Sunday morning ride, keeping an eye out for the numerous birds such as flamingos and herons who call this place home. As it was, we had a little potter in the sunshine, before enjoying another fab meal, this time at Restaurant Estany at Lo Mas De La Cuixota.

So should you be looking to Catalonia when you book your next cycling holiday? Have I been suitably swayed by the tourist board, despite being made to ride an e-bike?

Well, quite simply, yes, because the cycling in Catalonia is excellent, and not just for pros either. They didn’t even need to butter me up, they simply showed me the cycling and left me to fall in love with the place – obviously I’m going to like an area that allows you to ride from the mountains to the sea bathed in sunshine, where you can pick from road bikes, mountain bikes and perfectly tailor your itinerary to your ability. The only thing I would say – I need to go back but with a road bike and a bit more time… so if you’re reading this guys, erm… can I come again?

Written by Jack Thurston (who hosts the Bike Show on Resonance FM and contributes to the Brooks England blog along with myself) Lost Lanes Wales is a collection of really rather lovely sounding bike rides in Wales that makes for excellent arm chair reading whilst the weather is bad. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying sitting with a cat on my lap and browsing my copy whilst dreaming of weekends away with my bike and my husband and very much hope I’ll actually get to do some of the routes outlined in the book!

The 36 routes described range in length from about 25km to 75km and tend to be on roads with fairly light traffic (60 percent of Wales’ roads are narrow, unclassified roads!) and plenty of interest in the form of scenery, history and culture.

Each route is described with a couple of pages of text that focus on what you’ll see and why you’ll enjoy the route, rather than simply where you have to turn left and right, and then Jack has selected some of the best routes for wild camping, swimming, eating and hill climbing which makes it easy to pick an excursion by selecting an area then narrowing down your search based on what you feel like doing.

To save you carrying the book around and getting it spoiled, you can then download more detailed maps of each route, along with GPX files for GPS devices from the book’s website.

I’ve a copy of Lost Lanes to give way, so if you’d like to win it head over to twitter, follow me and retweet the tweet you can see below. You should be able to click on the image below but if you’re having problems you can find me on twitter here. Good Luck!

Lost Lanes Wales: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Wales and the English Borders by Jack Thurston (£14.99) is available from all good bookshops and from www.wildthingspublishing.com.

Terms and conditions:

1. This competition is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland.
2. Entry closes 15th October 2015
3. No purchase is necessary to enter the competition.
4. The winner will receive a copy of Lost Lanes Wales.
5. All retweets must be executed d by the advertised closing time date.
6. All prizes are non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives. The prize is subject to availability.
7. The winner will be chosen at random by Bikes N’ Stuff.
8. The winner will be contacted by twitter. If they do not reply within 7 days another winner may be chosen..
9. English law applies and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts shall prevail.

Sometimes when I’m wondering what to write for a post, I dismiss ideas without giving them much thought because I simply can’t think why anyone would be sufficiently interested in reading about them. I guess the things that I do all the time seem fairly ordinary to me and I sometimes thing I have to be doing something fairly elaborate, unusual or inspired in order to make a nice feature out of it.

But the thing with blogs is, people often are interested in the minutiae of one’s day to day life, perhaps because it’s the personal details that reach out to a reader and make what you’re writing different from say, a magazine article.

I certainly find myself curious about the lifestyles of people that I follow around the world, about the choices they make, the places they like and what makes a typical day for them, because what’s normal for them often isn’t for me.

Anyway, the point I’m getting to is this: I wrote a blog about something I do down here in Devon, called Honesty Box Dining that I consider fairly ordinary, and would you believe it, lots of people told me what a fab idea it was. So thanks guys and I stand corrected!

So if you’re curious to read about one of the ways that I amuse myself on a Friday night, head over to the Brooks blog to read my column.

Last month saw the launch of the brand new ASSOSéquipe rides, the first one rolling out from the recently opened Bespoke Cycling‘s store on Gresham Street. I was sadly unable to attend, but the team have just announced the next date and I’ll be there with bells on, though not literally of course…

ASSOSéquipe is ASSOS’ global club and rides programme, which invites ASSOS customers and like-minded riders to join together on one weekend day per month to enjoy a day to remember on the bike. The rides are being run on a regular basis from a variety of London locations initially, and from other UK cities from next year.

After meeting for coffee, we’ll split into two groups, a faster and a slower one, so whether you’re after a little more speed or prefer a social pace, there’s something for everyone. We’ll head out into Kent for a friendly 100km ride with the Assos team car on hand in case of mechanicals and to provide snacks and whatnot. These rides are not about racing; they are a chance to meet fellow cyclists, experience a relatively demanding but rewarding route with no stress over where you’re going, as you can just follow us!

The next ASSOSéquipe ride will take place on Saturday 24th October. Lie-ins will need to be deferred until Sunday it seems – here’s the schedule:

8.30am – meet at Café St Germain (16-17 Crystal Palace Parade, London, E191UD) for coffee and pastry and a brief introduction to the ride from the ASSOS Ride Leaders
8.50am – the slower paced group rolls out
9.00am – the faster paced group rolls out
1.00pm – estimated time back to Crystal Palace for coffee & cake for those not in a rush!

To register your interest for this ride, please email assosequipe@assos.com and confirm whether you would like to join the first (slower) or second (faster) group. Once they’ve received your email, they will be in touch to confirm availability. Please note, spaces are limited and work on a first come, first served basis so fire off that email now and secure your space. See you there?

For the past ten months, I’ve been lucky enough to have my cycling career supported by ASSOS, who’ve long had a reputation for producing the best cycling bib shorts that money can buy and needless to say I cannot recommend their products highly enough! But in the interest of keeping my lovely readers up to date with interesting cycling products, in particular those designed for women, here on Bikes n’ Stuff I continue to offer unbiased reviews of all brands.

In case it’s not obvious, all the products reviewed on this site are sent to Bikes n’ Stuff either by the manufacturer, distributor or PR. I never receive payment for reviewing a product, and the views presented are always entirely my own. If you notice a lack of bad reviews, it’s because I can’t be bothered to write about rubbish products –  I just don’t have the time – however I will bring up any issues I have with products that I do decide to review, and likewise, I’ll sing their praises whether I ride for them or not.

And with that out of the way, back to the Howies Women’s Cycling Bib Shorts!

Based in Wales, Howies are not a cycling focused company, but the brand like to celebrate the active side of the great outdoors which is where the cycling stuff comes in. The range is is really small, just a couple of jerseys and these bib shorts for the ladies, and a few extra bits for the men (of course…) and all are quite plain, or pared down, if you put it more nicely.

The shorts are totally different to any others that I’ve tried, as they’re made with a circular knitting machine, which means they’re tubular and without any seams that might rub. The weave has been varied to provide increased support or stretch, depending on what is needed.

With such a unique construction, pulling them on for the first time they felt a bit odd! The weave around the thighs is very supportive and offers a degree of compression to the legs, so though I’ve never worn them, the strong weave of the cuff and very supportive feel made me think of SPANX, those ‘body-scuplting’ knickers that people wear to hold their stomachs in. Either that, or surgical stockings!

Despite my first impressions, the shorts are very comfortable – the fabric is very soft on the skin – it just feels totally different to the lycra that I’m used to. The weave around the stomach is stretchy and thinner than on the legs with some perforations to increase breathability. The strap up the centre of the back is thinner still and feels light and soft. The two ‘bib’ straps are wide and comfortable, though would have been improved by being made of the same density of material as the strap up the back. There’s a small pocket in one of the straps too – presumably to stash emergency money?

Overall, the material is sort and comfortable, with a density that would work well in most of the weather we experience in the UK. It’s not the kind of super lightweight material you’d opt for when riding in blistering heat, but we don’t get much of that anyway. In winter, they’d give a bit of warmth when layered with other items such as leg warmers.

The length of the legs is flattering and there are no silicon grippers around the bottom leg cuff, but the shorts don’t ride up at all so clearly there was no need for them.

Overall, the cut is not bad. I like the feel and look of the shorts but did find there was a bit of a trampoline effect in the small of my back – rather than cling to my curves the material was suspended between my bum and the middle of by back. When on the bike in riding position, it doesn’t matter too much. Due to the construction – differing densities of material offering different levels of stretch – I’d recommend trying the shorts on before buying them; because the legs are quite supportive they could feel a bit tight if you have quite developed legs with small hips and torso.

The pad is perfectly ok. Howies have decided to buy one in from Italian manufacturers TMF and it’s made of foam with some anti-bacterial properties (apparently). Here’s what Howies say:

“The women’s specific 2-layer TMF Professional cycle pad is manufactured in Italy comprising 2 layers; one 40 density, 4mm thick foam bonded to a second, shock absorbent 90 density, 8mm foam in higher impact areas. Covered with an antibacterial finish to stay fresh and an elastic open cell surround that moves with your body.”

Here’s what I say: “It’s fine. Nothing to write home about, but no complaints.”

So what’s the verdict? They’re not the fanciest pair of shorts, but they do the job pretty well for the price tag. They feel comfortable and look pretty nice, and as they’re £59 they represent good value.

www.howies.co.uk

www.lumo.cc

I’m delighted to be a part of a team of fantastic athletes including Marianne Vos and Manon Carpenter as an ambassador for Strongher, which we launched in glamorous style at Look Mum No Hands a couple of weeks back. I even wore a dress, though I couldn’t bear to be parted from my beloved Vans trainers.

A brand new initiative for women’s cycling, Strongher is a hub for female cyclists of all kinds, where stories, rides and tips are shared, races, demos and events are publicized and large does of inspiration are dispensed to everyone with an interest in riding bikes.

We’re united by a love of bikes, and the feeling that cycling gives us:

“We love cycling. We love the natural high it brings us. It makes us feel good. It makes us feel confident. It makes us feel #Strongher. We want every woman to share and enjoy these feelings with us. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or a pro, we dream of giving you a stage to show yourself. Let’s create that stage together! Join our dream and live out your own!”

Over on the Strongher website, you can find profiles of the Stronger ambassadors, a group that spans all cycling disciplines and includes professionals, enthusiastic amateurs and novices, and you can create and upload your own profile to communicate with us and other riders in your local area. You can also check out the Strongher rides.

Along with the site comes the Strongher app, which allows you to create or join rides organised by other Strongher members, whether those are little Saturday afternoon jaunts to the local café, gatherings at the local trail centre or tough training rides out in the countryside. The idea is simply to help you connect with other female riders, though of course men are more than welcome too. Why not head over to the app store, download it and give it a go? It’s free!

I’ve been meaning to write a little update about what I’ve been doing for a while now but I keep getting sidetracked by work and by riding my bikes. Thankfully, I’ve finally found a spare hour in which I can put finger to keyboard and get this stuff typed up whilst I still remember what I’ve been up to, although I confesses I do have to look back through the photos on my phone just to be sure I don’t miss anything!

The whole idea behind this blog back at the start (in 2007!)  was to keep a virtual diary that I could look back on, somewhere I could scribble notes and digitally paste my photos, but recently I’ve been kind of overthinking it, trying to form proper articles rather than just writing those kind of posts. I’d definitely like this to remain a blog rather than become a website, so I think there’s a lot to be said for just sitting down and bashing out a post without it being a big deal. And whilst I love shooting nice photos, sometimes there’s not the time so I end up not posting anything instead.

So what have I actually been doing over the last couple of weeks?

First up, I travelled to London to meet a whole load of amazing athletes, get dressed up all fancy and launch a brand new initiative for women interested in cycling, Strongher. Strongher is one of the few things I have actually had a chance to write up, so click here to read more about what we doing, and what we are planning.

The day after we launched Strongher, mercifully hangover free, I headed down to S4P Bike Park near Guildford to meet my pals Manon Carpenter and Anna Glowinski for my idea of a girls day out – riding dirt jumps. Manon, the nutjob, had been up until 4 or 5am after the Strongher launch but was still bossing it on the big line and nailing no-handers on the final jump! I didn’t have a bike of my own to ride, so spent the day stealing runs on Manon and Anna’s bikes and had such an epic time – I love that place and I love riding with other ladies. S4P is really progressive with different sized jumps so that you can work your way up to the big ones, and the locals were all really friendly. It’s also pretty sandy there, so it looks like the jumps might be rideable all winter. Yay!

Fun little line at the trails yesterday! Thanks for letting me borrow your bikes @manoncarpenter & @anna_glowinski #mtb #traillife #thisgirlcan #dirtjump #dirtjumps #strongher

A video posted by Juliet Elliott (@julietelliott) on Oct 11, 2015 at 3:14am PDT

Back in Devon, I resumed training, which I’ll write a more detailed post on later, but suffice to say that each week’s plan now includes some longer rides to rebuild my endurance after all the race training, one or two gym workouts, some horrid HIIT sessions on the turbo trainer and then some cross training which could be on the BMX or mountain bike. And a bit of running. And lots of stretching.

I then took delivery of the first of two new bikes. I’m sorry, please don’t hate me.

The first is a lovely Charge Cooker 2 27plus, similar to the bike I was riding in this video but with a suspension fork. Charge Bikes’ entire Cooker range is now built around the new 27inch wheel size, all with fat tyres to add an bit of extra give. Seeing as the bike wasn’t blindingly blue enough already, what with a bright blue stem, I stuck the new Fabric ‘Cell’ saddle on there just to be sure.

The next bike is a Marin Attack Trail 9, the result of my new partnership with Wideopen Magazine. I’m now a regular feature writer for the magazine and I’ll be taking the new machine on many adventures over the coming year, as well as writing up a long term review.  For Wideopen Magazine, I’m keen to primarily focus on the non-competitive side of mountain biking, which is generally where I feel most at home. Please do hit me up if you’ve news about events/people/places/trips that you think I should know of!

Bikes unloaded (but as yet unridden!) I headed back up to London for a couple of meetings and to join an ASSOSéquipe ride heading out into the Kent countryside. I’d previously recced the route with some of the Assos gang and we’d been pummelled with torrential, freezing rain for much of the ride, turning what had started out pleasantly into a bit of a misery fest. This time, I went prepared with my mega waterproof SturmPrinz jacket, but guess what? It didn’t rain! We all had a really lovely time. I ride my road bike on my own a hell of a lot, so I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to new people and whizzing through a different county. The next ASSOSéquipe ride departs from Sigma Sport on November 15th.

Back in Devon the day after, I had my first chance to ride the new Marin Attack Trail so I took her to my favourite local spot, Scadson Bike Park near Paignton. I was absolutely shattered to be honest, but nothing was gonna stop me riding that bike and needless to say as soon as I started riding I stopped thinking about being tired. It took me a couple of runs to get used to the new ride – it’s a bit bigger than my previous bike with a longer wheelbase and a fair bit more travel too, so at first, it was definitely the bike taking me for a ride rather than the other way round. Then on run three, we just clicked – it was that instant.

So what next? Well on Tuesday  I’ve nearly caught up!) I took the Marin to Triscombe. The weather was absolutely appalling, but along with Tahnee Seagrave, Sam Reynolds and Yannick Grannieri I was shooting the Fox autumn/winter catalogue so we just had to get on with it and ignore the weather!

We began by shooting some of the lifestyle stuff, then Tahnee and I hopped on our bikes to go and get some riding shots and got totally and utterly soaked and covered in mud in less than a hundred metres. My feet kept flying off my pedals too, it was so bloody slippery and my shoes are absolutely ancient with no grip whatsoever – I really must give in and buy some new ones! I say that every single time I ride!

Before this year, I had little interest in purposeful training on the bike, preferring instead to simply wing it and ride harder if I wanted to improve my cycling. But at the beginning of summer I was hit by a sudden urge to train (strangely enough it coincided with entering the Red Hook Crit in London!) and what followed was a fast track course in power and heart rate assisted training, led by James at High Rise Coaching.

I’ve explained a little about heart rate training for cycling here and may well revisit that topic in greater detail in the future, but just briefly, I’d say I found it very effective but it has its limitations too – the monitor can be slow to pick up an increase in heart rate for instance, so if you’re doing ultra short high intensity interval training it can be tricky to work with. I also found that it was extremely hard to get my heart rate up into Zone 5, no matter how hard I was trying, so I was keen to reexamine how I was training and try something new to keep myself motivated.

I’d heard from James that working with power was really effective and I was keen to give it a go and see how it suited me, and looking over the various power metre options available commercially, I felt that the Garmin Vector 2 power pedals would be the easiest adaptation to my bike. Like the other power meter options such as cranks and rotors, they’re not cheap by any means, but at least they looked easy to install and set up and they measure each leg individually, something I was curious about as I’ve always felt my left leg is weaker. They’re Look Keo compatible, which is handy as that’s what I’ve been using.

Straight out of the box, you simply screw the pedals in, adjust to the correct torque and then attach the pedal pods using a small allen key. The whole process takes just a few minutes. The next step is to pair the pedals with your Garmin (I use the Garmin Edge1000) which again, is pretty straight forward – just go to Settings> Sensors> Add Sensor and then select the device. then pedal at around 90rpm when instructed to do so and your pedals should be reading power.

Each pedal pod has an LED that flashes a certain number of times depending on what it’s trying to tell you, which could be that the pedals are pairing with each other, pairing with your cycle computer, running out of batteries or whatnot.

In order to be able to view detailed live data, the next thing to do is to set up the relevant data screens on your Garmin device. On my home screen, I added a box for the power average over 3 seconds, and one to show the power zone I’m in. In order to be able to view more detailed live data I then added the screen.

And with that all done, I did a functional threshold performance test to determine what kind of watts I average over an hour, which I then used to set up my own power zones that I could use for training. I also performed a test to see the maximum power I could generate – useful, as I’d be able to directly see whether I was getting stronger.

So how were they?

Well using the pedals in their most basic way, to measure what power I was putting out was actually very useful, and working with James I was able to program power zone based workouts into my Garmin which would then beep furiously at me if I was riding pushing too much or too little. I did find staying in the correct zone quite a challenge, possibly due to my erratic pedaling and the crazy hills in Devon but also maybe because the power pedals are so sensitive. To counteract this, I found it useful to work with the 3-second average reading rather than the straight up live feed which jumped all over the place.

When it came to the more advanced capabilities of the Garmin Vector 2 pedals, well it all became a little overwhelming. The sheer amount of data they read is impressive – for each leg you can compare at what point in the revolution of your pedal you generate peak power, where you start and end your effective pedal stroke, the pressure you exert laterally and all sorts of other things. Which is all interesting up to a point, but it’s quite hard to get the most out of that data if you haven’t a degree in sports science, a lot of time on your hands to read up on it or an ultra high level performance coach analyzing it all and giving you feedback and workouts to improve any technical deficiencies or inherent weaknesses.

Looking at the data did make me realise I’m a little better a pedaling with my right foot, but that kind of thing is not uncommon, and not really the end of the world, so if I were to buy a power metre, I could perhaps choose a cheaper model without the ability to measure each leg individually.

In conclusion? I found the Garmin Vector 2 pedals fun and interesting to use and I really enjoyed working with power, but without any help, I found it hard to get the most out of all the detailed data. It was an interesting novelty to see the left/right split and made me focus on pedaling more efficiently with my left leg. They weren’t without their glitches, which is a shame for such a high end product – more than once, I tried to set off for a ride only to discover that my computer wasn’t reading the pedals, and I had to fart about for ages trying to get them to pair, adding and removing the pedals from the System menu and eventually taking one of the batteries out and putting it back in – that was a bit annoying. Other than that, I really liked how easy they were to install and that you don’t need to change a bigger component such as a crank or a cassette.

Garmin Vector 2 pedals. RRP £1199.99

The guys at Bikmo Plus have somewhat generously insured my bicycles this year, and seeing as my bikes are one of the most treasured and loved things I own, knowing they’re safe is quite a relief.

To get to know me a little better, they sent over some interview questions so I recorded the resulting interview for my YouTube channel, well at least one of my YouTube channels –  in the process of uploading I discovered that for some reason I have two!

Head over to my newest YouTube channel to check out more videos, or check out my old channel for some videos made by Charge Bikes back in the day.

www.bikmoplus.com

It’s a long running joke in this house that the optimum number of bikes is not n+1, but simply a bike for every discipline. I don’t see a genuine need for more than one bike of the same kind, to me that’s pure desire rather than true need, but a bike of every kind, well that’s another matter…

Over the past few years as my interests have expanded, my bike collection has grown to include bikes of several wheels sizes and tyre widths, so depending on my mood, the weather or what’s on, I can select an appropriate machine. The bikes have come to me through various means – through sponsorship, for reviewing, by swapping something or other, by disassembling and reimagining an old bike or through the old fashioned exchange of money. Some of them I get to keep, others are just passing through.

Some people can’t understand it. My mum, for example, still doesn’t quite get how very, very different bikes can be from one another, and still exclaims ‘not another bike’ every time I get a new one. I tried to explain that they’re a bit like shoes – you wouldn’t wear your stilettos to the gym or your wellies to work, would you?

I don’t have a bike of every single kind by any means, nor do I have a lot of money, so despite my greedy desire to have one of everything, I don’t. But a fortnight ago, on impulse after riding Manon’s Saracen at S4P bike park, I finally bought a jump bike, something I’ve wanted for a long time!

I spent ages trying to decide what to buy, looking at Deity, DMR and NS bikes primarily, then I thought ‘sod it, Manon’s was fun, I’ll just get the same one!’ My set up is not totally the same as it’s off the peg, has one gear, I took the front brake off and it’s got a crappy fork.

I took it to The Track in Portreath for its debut ride, and I loved it! Bit of a shame I chose to buy it at this time of year though, as it’s slippery as hell outside and I can’t find any sandy trails to ride. It’s kind of the wrong time of year for riding trails really, but I figured I’d have more chance with this than on my BMX.

I’m really delighted to have joined the Wideopen Magazine team as a rider and staff writer.

The editor, Jamie and I first got chatting to each other back when I was producing Coven Magazine and we stayed in touch over a couple of years before eventually meeting face to face at Wideopen Magazine and Fox’s uplift day at Triscombe. As it happens, that trip to Triscombe turned out pretty well for me as over the next year I’ll be actually be working with both Fox and Wideopen Magazine on a variety of cool projects.

Wideopen is a fantastic and I’m looking forward to producing some great content for them, not least because it means that I get to go and do lots of fun stuff myself.

One of the first things I’ll be doing is heading up to FlyUp Downhill’s 417 Project for a preview of the killer new indoor and outdoor mountain bike centre currently under construction near Cheltenham.

I seriously can’t wait for that and I’ll be sure to give you a full update on how it’s going down there. In the meantime, head over to the Wideopen site to read their introduction to me and my new role.