The Women’s Tour hits Britain for the first time this week, with some of the best international female riders racing for the first time in the UK since the 2012 Olympic Games.
There has been a large amount of media coverage in relation to this and for good reason.
However, anybody who believes that women’s domestic cycling has made a huge move forwards in the UK is sadly mistaken. Yes, there is a Women’s Tour, which offers parity on prize money and conditions with that of the Tour of Britain, but the reality is that, for the moment at least, any woman who races on the UK domestic scene and is not part of the Great Britain performance programme (which is a track-based programme), is highly unlikely to get the opportunity to ride in the likes of the Women’s Tour and La Course by the TDF.
Ultimately, women’s cycling in the UK is still a side show, an afterthought. Despite Brian Cookson setting up a women’s commission at the UCI, there is no such thing within the UK. Whilst some of the greatest female cyclists are arriving in the UK to take part in the inaugural Women’s Tour, the women who race on the domestic scene will quite often find themselves being put with the novice fourth category men, which is an experience that is unlikely to entice the women to come back the following week! There are a few committed people in the cycling scene who disproportionately hard to be inclusive towards women’s participation, however, these are few and far between, and lack key support.
Nobody can deny that the Breeze programme has been a success in so far as it encourages more women to ride bikes. But the Breeze programme is based on participation, not competition, and there is no real pathway to bridge between the two. The strategy as far as competition is concerned is practically non-existent, despite the numbers that British Cycling quote in relation to the increase in licences. Ultimately, women’s competitive cycling in the UK on the domestic scene is an amateur sport, which means that it is run by volunteers. There is no money for “competition” because despite what you read (which can seem like propaganda quite honestly), cycling is run by men ergo the sport will always be seen from a male perspective.
So, what is the way forward?
Well, it is true, there has been progress in the last 12 months, with many more road racing opportunities for women, but these forward-thinking organisers need our help and support. Domestic events are all run by volunteers and everybody who wants to race (whether they are male or female) has to understand that it costs money to put a race on – if a race can’t at a minimum break even, then why should an organiser make a loss?
One problem with the circuit races that seem to be prolific in the UK for women is that they cost very little to run – there is a levy per entry (approximately £4 per rider) and then you have the hire of the circuit (usually between £50 and £150 depending on how long you need the circuit for) and the expenses of the commissaires for attending (usually two at closed circuit) and the first aider, but nothing much besides. This means that you can have five riders in an event and potentially break even.
Road racing, on the other hand, can be expensive – not only do you have the levy per rider, but you then also have first aid, National Escort Group (motorbike marshals), petrol money for all officials who use their cars, for the lead car and neutral service (the cost of which increases the longer the race), as well as the hire of the headquarters. Before you know it, the cost of putting on an event is at £350 and that’s before you add in prize money. So that means that you need at least 25 to 30 riders before you even start to break even.
So please, ladies, if you want to have road races in your region, please give the organisers the support they deserve and enter in advance as often as you can afford to and don’t rely on the ability to turn up and enter on the day (the latter will hopefully become more difficult as racing gets more popular and races fill up in advance). There have been far too many races this season that have been cancelled or nearly cancelled due to lack of rider entries – you need to take some responsibility and enter in advance – our sport is run by volunteers who cannot afford to make a loss, so please enter in good time!
My final point reverts back to the fact that competitive cycling is run, for the most part, by men. Until such time that women start to volunteer in larger numbers, whether that be as race officials or race organisers, and start to make their voices heard by taking their place on the Regional British Cycling Boards, there will be no significant changes. I appreciate that for most people, offering to organise a race or becoming an official can be a daunting task, and I will have more news in the coming weeks for people who want to do just that.
Ultimately, women’s cycling is becoming more popular, we just need to ensure that it continues to grow in the correct way on a domestic level.
It’s been a few years since bike racing hit the Prom in Blackpool, but this year the Lewis Balyckyi Memorial Crits have left the Palatine circuit and have moved on to the Prom at Bispham. Further details can be found below:
Organiser Jerrod Hartley has been working extremely hard behind the scenes to secure the use of the Prom to ensure that the day will be one not to be missed! All profits from the races and the raffle will go towards the Lewis Balyckyi Trust Fund, which is a registered charity (registered charity number 1150807) that raises money to help aspiring athletes fulfill their dreams and potential as cyclists.
The event is supported by Smiths Equipment Hire who have a variety of offers for those supporting the event, which are detailed below:
Four-year-old identical twins; Jake and Theo Riddle, from Queenstown New Zealand are literally the new kids on the block in BMX terms. A video of their skills caught my eye last month and I thought I’d share this compilation with you, it brings a smile to my face. The twins throw themselves right into jumps and drops – when they spill they just get back on their bikes.
“It was worse when they were younger and didn’t know how to fall but it didn’t seem to faze them, they’d just get on their bikes and carry on with blood on their chins. We’ve never pushed them to get back on their bikes.” Dad Steve said.
Jake and Theo got their BMX addiction when they were very little (as if 4 wasn’t young enough) they were attempting to pull stunts the minute they got their balance bikes as you can see form the last few frames of the film.
The boys skills are impressive for their age, they would put most BMX obsessed teen to shame. They’ve had offers of sponsorship deals and TV appearances from around the world, though I’m not sure they’ve taken up the offers yet, but if you’re looking for an agent Jake & Theo… ;D
Mum Emma said, “The boys don’t seem bothered in the slightest about their new cycling celebrity profile, they’ve just been watching Scooby Doo and going to kindy”.
Following my high scoring reviews of the Bike Floss (90%) and the Bike Polish & Frame Protector (100%) from UK Company Purple Harry, I now turn to their Wash & Polish Mitt.
It is made from good quality microfibre material and shaped into a three fingered ‘lobster claw’ glove, which according to their website “has been ergonomically designed with the bike’s shape and contours in mind – allowing access to difficult areas whilst avoiding catching on the drive train and snagging in components”.
For this review I will be comparing this mitt with my usual cleaning materials; standard square shaped microfibre cloths bought from my local Pound store!
The Mitt costs at least SIX times more than the cloths I have been using for many years for cleaning and polishing duties, but is it worth the extra expense?
I hit a problem with the Mitt straight away; I couldn’t get it onto my hand.
My hands are not excessively large, but I struggled for a while before having to resort to using scissors to cut the black narrow cuff stitched into the Mitt to allow my hand in. Due to the Lobster claw shape your second and third fingers are forced apart, which felt uncomfortable to start with, but overtime became less troublesome.
Also while working on the bike, because you have two pairs of fingers held together, it restricts how well you can get into those small little gaps and crevices that need to be reached while cleaning or polishing. My natural instinct is to use just the finger-tip of my index finger to get to those more intricate areas, something you can’t do very successfully with this Mitt as the combined width of two fingers stops you reaching as far as you would like.
Also with my normal square cloth I can easily reach every corner on the frame by using it in a flossing action by just pulling one corner into the tight spot, for example cleaning between the rear wheel and chain stays, the gap is far too narrow to get my finger in between.
Another disadvantage of using the Mitt is that the actual area of material that you can use for cleaning/polishing is very limited; meaning that it quickly becomes too dirty or clogged. You have the whole Mitt but in reality can only effectively use the finger tips for finer work and the length of your fingers for working on the more accessible areas.
To use the other side you will need to take the Mitt off and put it on your other hand. This means that it might become too dirty to finish the job, you will have to wash it after every use or you will need to buy a couple more!
My way of working is that I currently have several microfibre cloths in use, each one is given a different task depending on how dirty it is; brand new ones are used for dusting and polishing only, but once they become clogged or a little dirty they then move onto drying or light cleaning duties and the previous one used for this purpose is ‘downgraded’ to more dirty tasks and so on until the very last one is used exclusively for chain cleaning work – and once this is oil soaked it is binned and another trip to the Pound shop is made to buy a fresh one to start the process again.
These cloths can be washed too, but as they cost as little as 99p for three it is not worth the effort. As they are square shaped you can use every inch of the cloth, both sides included, and by wrapping your index finger in the cloth with the remainder held in the palm of your hand you can reach those smaller awkward places with a clean patch of fabric every time unlike the Mitt.
From the picture above; in the bottom left is a new cloth, and each one in a clockwise direction becomes progressively dirtier.
So, as you can gather from my comments, I would not recommend that you pay £5.99 for this Mitt, instead buy six standard cloths and use a rotation system similar to mine, you will get much more value for money and they’ll do a better job too!
Left, is a comparison of cleaning area between the Mitt and cloths for the same price. Unfortunately I am awarding my lowest score so far, all the effort that has gone into cutting out the shape, stitching it together and attention to detail like adding the cuff and Purple Harry label has not only cost a lot to do, it has also severely restricted its usefulness, which is reflected in my score below:
Sorry to the Guys at Purple Harry, I can only give the Mitt a paltry score of 17%.
With the constant rain that has become the norm here in the UK lately, it has become more important than ever to regularly clean your bike. This will not only reduce corrosion, but also limit the wear from those little bits of grit and muck that stick to the frame and components when cycling on wet roads.
The UK produced Purple Harry Bike Polish will not only leave your bike sparkling, it also leaves a protective layer of waxes and silicones, adding an extra barrier to your paintwork which will make it easier to clean in the future too!
Simply pour a small amount onto a clean soft cloth of your choice, apply to the bike in a circular motion and then wait for at least 5 minutes for the polish to dry, then buff off to reveal a gleaming silky smooth surface. Of course, as with any polish, avoid getting any on the braking surfaces and it’s not recommended for use on the saddle or brake levers!
In the past I have only used the same polish as I use on my car (Turtle Wax), and have been pleased with the results, but I was very impressed with the Purple Harry Polish.
The crown on my carbon forks had minute scratches that always caught my eye in the past, but now they are gone, to be replaced by a nice deep black mirror like shine!
I also got a good finish when applying the polish to the painted Aluminium frame, carbon forks, Aluminium chainset and even plastic mudguards, so it can be used on most bike surfaces (take extra care if polishing wheel rims not to make the braking surface super slippery!).
My bike has never looked so good, after using the Bike Floss sticks to clean the cassette and chain and now protecting every suitable surface with the Bike Polish, it is almost in ‘as new’ condition. This is impressive; when you consider that it is a 2008 bike that I bought secondhand, which gets used nearly every day, for either a weekend ride or my commute to work.
It is difficult to say how often you should apply the polish, I guess it depends on the weather conditions and how often the bike gets washed, and obviously you wouldn’t use it every time you clean the bike. Perhaps 3 to 4 times a year seems to me to be a sensible figure. The bottle should therefore last for years (Unless, because of the fantastic results, you go on to use it on your car, caravan, or boat too!).
I really can’t find any negatives; it just works better than anything else I have tried before.
So, a first from me, a score of 100% for Purple Harry Bike Polish!
It’s with a heavy heart that Cycling Shorts brings you this sad, sad news about the SCCU Good Friday Meeting (Southern Counties Cycling Union), I won’t drop the other Cycling Shorts writers in it, but a few of us have been having the same collective grumble about this all morning.
I wanted to call this article “Herne Hill abandoned for shiny new venue with no soul”, but I’m resisting.
Personally I feel the event will lose a lot of it’s core supporters who have stood by the event no matter the weather, in fact the weather is part of the charm of the Good Friday Meet (and other Good Friday races around the country)… people will still go out in mucky weather to watch or take part in cycling in the UK. At least at an outdoor track the riders pass the spectators repeatedly keeping the audience gripped, the same can not always be said of road racing, it whizzes past you once… reach for your flask of coffee and hobnob (other biscuits are available) and the photo opportunity is gone! Isn’t part of the point of these races to get outdoors and enjoy what spring throws at us?! Herne Hill will be remembered with more fondness than Lee Valley ever could be. It seems it’s yet another event cashing in on the new and sacrificing the old. In my mind this isn’t a move of location, it’s a total change of event.
I want to see grass roots venues being treated with the respect they deserve, if the cycling bubble we are currently riding in does burst (fingers crossed it won’t) you need venues like Herne Hill to help keep cycling going in the bad times, don’t snub it in the good times, why can’t these venues continue to host these sorts of races?… so what if demand outstrips supply of tickets, it becomes a more exclusive event.
The international pro riders I know who ride the GFM year in year out always tell me they love going to Herne Hill, they say it feels like you’re in the heart of a community.
I won’t be able to make it down this year to Lee Valley, I know I grumble, but I know it will still be a great day of racing and I’m sad I can’t go this year, it’s always well organised and quirky… if you haven’t been to the Good Friday Meet before and don’t like British weather then you have no excuse this time, get down to Lee Valley for an action packed day of cycling!
I’ll give it a go next year…. maybe.
Disappointed of the weather beaten (but hardy) North.
So after much rumour…here are the details of the relocation we received this afternoon.
On 18th April 2014 The SCCU Good Friday Meeting will be departing one historic Olympic Venue for another as it makes a move from Herne Hill to Lee Valley Velopark to help celebrate the opening year of the park and the cycling legacy of London 2012.
Lee Valley Velopark
We know that many of our supporters at Herne Hill will be disappointed that they will not be making their annual pilgrimage to Burbage Road ‐ and it will certainly be a very strange feeling for us to not be unlocking the gates at 6 o’clock in the morning – but after 110 years of forecast watching we will not be at the mercy of the British weather this year!
This decision has not been taken lightly. We’ve spent several months weighing up all of the options whilst constantly aiming to bring the best afternoon’s racing we can to our loyal supporters.
Herne Hill is a much‐loved and highly respected venue and work to renovate and evolve into a multi‐use facility is ongoing, taking it from strength to strength and elevating it far above it’s Victorian peers. Whilst the Good Friday meeting is undoubtedly a part of the velodrome’s history we are aware that track racing has moved on over the years and the event also needs to evolve to meet the expectations of the new generation of enthusiasts and supporters.
With this in mind, we felt that it was appropriate to bring the meeting to an indoor venue.
Rest assured, Herne Hill will continue to be a home of world‐class events and we fully intend to expand the number of outdoor‐specific and continental‐style events we promote at the venue, returning to the traditions and racing styles which the venue has hosted for over a century.
To our traditional supporters we say come with us, and to our new supporters we say welcome to some great racing!
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