ISTD 2014

19 85P E UG E O

T

6-7 My Journey

8 - 9 Specification & Tour Winners

10-11 The Charm

12-13 Longest Journey & Cadence

14-15 Elevation

16-17 Slaying the Badger

18-19 Climbing the Mountain

20-21 My Favourite Journey

22-23 An Amazing Sense of Speed

Swiped to Secure: A walk through my journey of how i came about my bike

A specification list and a page dedicated to previous Tour De France winners

A small review of the famous L’Eroica bike ride

My top three longest journeys and my preferred Cadence

My highest and lowest points of elevation

A bio of famous Cyclist Grey LeMond

Cycling up some big gradients can take its toll on your legs

My favourite journey of twenty thirteen

What does it feel like travel over thirty miles per hour on an old road bike

Contents

4

This is my journey through the ownership of my Peugeot Premiere road bike. It all started in December 2012 when my previous bike, a modern hybrid was stolen. After leaving it locked up in town the night before, I thought it was in a safe place but I was wrong, my first words were

As you can imagine I wasn’t best pleased. After looking at various options I wanted a bike that was cheap, fast, easy to maintain and look good. I had thought about buying another bike similar to my previous but it seemed stupid to spend £300 plus on something to commute to University and back and have the odd Sunday ride on; plus I was sick of getting cold and wet and wasting 40 minutes walking to Uni, which would have taken me around 7 minutes on a bike. I was desperate. After researching for a couple of weeks I was set on buying some kind of old racing/road bike, this seemed the most sensible option. They were very cheap, sub £100, looked very simple and clean,

You’re joking? The thieving bastards!“ “

they were lightweight and I knew it would be easy to maintain especially as I could use some of the money left over on some modern bits and bobs. This brought me to my current bike a Peugeot Premiere. I bought it from an old man in Keighley he seemed to restore old bikes and make sure they were in tiptop condition. When I went to collect the bike it was obvious this man didn’t have a wife, his living room and other rooms I could see at a glance were filled with bike parts and little projects and his front room was actually a bike workshop! The bike came with all its original parts, including the 10-speed gearing. Over the next few months I replaced, removed and added many parts, such as a Brookes B17 saddle, yellow bar tape, new lighter aluminum wheels, new tyres and converted the bike to single speed. The choice to go single speed was for simplicity, weight saving and a clean look; I was able to strip every unnecessary part such as the gearing, cables, front gear mechanism and gear levers, which basically left me with a frame. This simplicity made for a great riding bike, one that is silent, smooth and most importantly rattle free (I hate rattles) In hindsight I’m almost glad my previous bike was stolen, simply because I would have never felt what it was like to ride my Peugeot. This brings me to the current day; I don’t have any further plans for my bike other than to ride it for many more miles to come, I hope you enjoy my journey and this little booklet.

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6

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““There’s always anotherTour to win it back again

Ten Times Tour De France Winners

Louis Trousselier

Early on, the Peugeot family saw the value of publicity in sponsoring racing cyclists. Paul Bourillon became the world sprint champion in Copenhagen in 1896 on a Peugeot bicycle. The family also backed riders in numerous road races and in 1905 sponsored its first Tour de France winner, Louis Trousselier.

After the first Tour de France win, the Peugeot cycling team remained active in the Tour and other European cycle races. Peugeot would go on to become the most successful factory team of all time in the Tour de France, winning the race a record ten times

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THE CHARM OF AN OLD BIKE

“There are no sports drinks here, it’s coffee and wine.”

THE CHARM OF AN OLD BIKE

Speaking of fun, that’s what L’Eroica is all about. As far as I could tell, no one was taking this even remotely seriously. If you’re racing it, you’ve missed the point. It’s a chance to ride a classic bike, dress up in retro clothes and have a laugh. Some people match the vintage of their clothing to the vintage of their bike but for others it’s more of a hotchpotch. The main thing is that it falls into the broad category of ‘old stuff’ which is what the event is all about. The other big thing that distinguishes L’Eroica is the road surface. The event goes over a lot of white roads: strade bianche. These haven’t been tarmaced – they’re naturally chalky. They’re sometimes gravelly and quite dusty, sometimes sandy, sometimes smooth and sometimes bumpy. They’re a lot of fun. Had I gone over the bike more carefully maybe I’d have spotted that something was up with the inner chainring. Or maybe it was fine to begin with, who knows? What I do know is that an hour into the ride I got out of the saddle for a climb, put in the power and the chainring snapped. Crunch! There are no sports drinks here, it’s coffee and wine. There are no energy bars, it’s cheese and meat. There’s no talk of personal bests, average speeds, wattage or any of that malarkey. You put on a wool jersey and a stupid hat and go for a wander, checking out other people’s bikes as you go. That’s a new one on me. Is “snapped chainring” even an expression in the road bike world? Is it a thing that people know about? I Googled it later and there were only 120 results listed, and most of those applied to chainring teeth or bolts. Here, the actual chainring had sheared and the unattached bit was poking out at a rakish angle so the cranks wouldn’t turn. Okay. That’s a problem; two options: first, wait for the tiny service vehicle to arrive, sling the bike on top and call it a day. But I was enjoying this too much. I was riding in the Tuscan sunshine with thousands of other people; I didn’t want to stop and spend ages cooped

up in a car the size of a roller skate, gazing out the window at everyone else having all the fun i wanted to get going. So I took the second option… cope as best I could. Luckily, with the age of the bike in mind, Brooks had given me one of their well-stocked Tool Rolls that I’d taken along, and with a little persuasion and help from my friends I managed to get the bust chainring off. I then folded it up and put it in my pocket, which isn’t something I’ve ever done with a chainring before. There are no sports drinks here, it’s coffee and wine.

There’s no talk of personal bests, average speeds, wattage or any of that malarkey. You put on a wool jersey and a stupid hat and go for a wander, checking out other people’s bikes as you go. There was the occasional penny-farthing (‘high-wheeler’ or ‘ordinary’ if you’re one of those people who care), and for some reason there was a bloke dressed as the Red Baron who had turned his bike into something that loosely resembled a World War I biplane. We never did find out why.

L’Eroica: a good old-fashioned bike ride

“There are no energy bars, it’s cheese and meat.”

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LONGESTJOURNEY’S

2013

72.4 MILES

46.2 MILES

35.0 MILES

HARROGATE - SKIPTON - COLNE - HARROGATE

MIDDLESMOORE - FEWSTON - HAMPSTHWAITE

SKIPTON - COLNE - HARROGATE

CADENCE

Cyclists typically have a Cadence at which they feel most comfortable. It is calculated using the wheel diameter, width and the grearing of the bike, in this case twenty seven inch wheels and a fifty one to eighteen tooth gear ratio.

Cadence refers to the revolutions per minute at the crank

75 RPM = 16.6 MPH

MY PREFERED CADENCE

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ELEVATIONSEA-LEVEL

+1000ft

100 Miles

-500ft 369ft

648 ft

LOWEST POINT RECORDED

6.2 MILES

15/10/13 15:13 9.5 MPHBIRSTWITH BANK

HIGHEST POINT RECORDED

18.0 MILES

22/08/13 17:33 12.2 MPHMIDDLESMOORE

ELEVATIONSEA-LEVEL

+1000ft

100 Miles

-500ft 369ft

648 ft

LOWEST POINT RECORDED

6.2 MILES

15/10/13 15:13 9.5 MPHBIRSTWITH BANK

HIGHEST POINT RECORDED

18.0 MILES

22/08/13 17:33 12.2 MPHMIDDLESMOORE

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B

SLAYING THE BADGERWhen Greg LeMond – a blue-eyed, blonde-haired Californian boy, dubbed ‘L’American’won the 1986 Tour, he made history.

ut LeMond’s victory was hard won. It was seemingly snatched from the jaws of the man ominously dubbed ‘The Badger’. Frenchman Bernard ‘Le Blaireau’ Hinault was five times winner of the Tour and as tough as boots. On winning the 1985 Tour, in which LeMond came a close second, Hinault vowed to return for one final Tour, and with a single purpose: to help LeMond win. But could Hinault be trusted? As the race circled France, he repeatedly attacked LeMond. Hinault claimed to the press that his apparent treachery was merely intended to make LeMond stronger. But LeMond, who didn’t believe him, became increasingly fearful, anxious and paranoid. The Tour is renowned for its psychological complexity but what played out in 1986 was unheard of.

Why was Hinault putting his own teammate in jeopardy? Would LeMond crack under the pressure? Something sinister was going on but no one - not even LeMond - knew quite what. Slaying the Badger relives the adrenaline, the agony, the camaraderie, the betrayals, and the pure exhilaration of the 1986 Tour, the biggest conundrum of the tour. Richard Moore has interviewed all the key players including the story’s two enigmatic, eccentric and fiercely different protagonists. As he delves behind the scenes, the biggest conundrum of Tour history is finally laid bare. So in Hinault’s greatest hour of need it doesn’t sit well with me that LeMond constantly bemoaned his bad luck at not being able to attack his leader and ride for the win, of being pegged back by team orders and duties. Excuse me? that’s what he was getting paid a small fortune for surely? Hinault had spent a lifetime earning that respect and was the man who, lest we forget, had been over five minutes ahead of LeMond in the general classification and absolutely battered the American by two minutes and 34 seconds during the testing 75km time trial on stage nine, a pretty conclusive mano-a-mano test. Yet we soon had LeMond complaining that he could have beaten Hinault given a free run. Of course he could, Hinault should probably have been in hospital.

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‘866LeMond was missing the point entirely and not understanding the wider picture. In many ways his story reminds of the crack squad of American rowers at Oxford University in 1986 and 1987 and caused such turmoil with their ‘New World’ ways - basically because they didn’t buy into the traditions and understand fully how the system worked. Especially when they didn’t win. LeMond wasn’t doing Hinault a favour at all in helping him to Paris, he was simply doing his duty and what was expected of him. If he so badly wanted to be the team leader and ride flat-out for general

classification against Hinault he should have chosen another team the previous winter and not seduced by the million pound contract offered by Bernard Tapie.Yet somehow, despite everything, LeMond - much feted by the English speaking press it has to be said emerged as the ‘hero’ of 1985 and Hinault, possibly feeling the need to respond to that public perception, made his famous promise to help the American next year. The context of Hinault’s quote is discussed at some length and can be seen as ambiguous but if I have read the Badger’s mindset correctly deep

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The Franco-American duo definitely take centre stage but the first surprise is that a third figure damn nearly steals the show, and the book, from them. That man is Paul Kochli the enigmatic Swiss directeur sportif at their La Vie Claire team, the godfather of sports scientists everywhere and a man, even then, dedicated to proving that riders could win the ultimate prize clean. Over the years I have of course heard talk of Kochli, the reclusive ‘professor’ of the sport, but by tracking him down and outlining his methods and philosophy Moore does modern day cycling a great service. Kochli was right ‘out there’ 25 years ago and listening to his almost guru-like voice now is still revelatory. A major, much neglected, thinker and innovator and an individual I am left wanting to know much more about and his methods.

CLIMBING THE MOUNTAINLooking at that steep incline from the bottom, that everyone dreads.

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““

The second big surprise, though, is Hinault. Instinctively he has always been a big favourite of mine, warts and all. The cussed and commanding Breton capable of extraordinary deeds on a bike with his occasional bouts of ruthless megalomania softened by equally random - but less heralded - bouts of generosity and romanticism towards the sport. As a journalist it must have been a joy to write about Hinault in the 1980s. I’ve bumped into him a couple of times and physically he reminds of Gareth Edwards, an-other phenomenally gifted and powerful Celt, capable of almost anything, in athletic terms, when the situation demanded. As with Edwards there remains a tangible forcefield of energy and charisma around Hinault to this day. Three steps to improving your swimming technique.

That was my impression before reading the book and my opinion remains unchanged as I reluctantly closed the last of the 283 pages. Not that Moore doesn’t dig around looking for the “real” Hinault he does manfully in the same way that he famously went In Search of Robert Millar a few years ago - but on this occasion it would appear there is no alter ego to discover. What you see with Hinault is what you get, now and in previous years. The Breton is his own invention, a unique one off. He emerges exactly as I thought he would. I feel like I have known him for years. And yet running contrary to that was the third surprise the book coughed up, namely that I found myself not quite as sympathetic to LeMond as I imagined I would be.

It’s challenging when all you can think about is how much your legs are burning

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2013MY FAVOURITE JOURNEY

SUMMERBRIDGE TO DARLEY

I love to plan travel, and my family (now grown) loved to travel. In the late 90s and early 2000s, we had tons of frequent flyer miles because my husband basically was on a plane 5 days a week, and that combined with a strong dollar, provided a lot of incentive to get to Europe. My husband and kids were willing to stay in any type of place as long as it was clean (well, I’m not so sure the kids even cared about that), so I had a lot of options in using our travel dollar wisely and with a bit of care and consideration. Overall, our vacations reflected different aspects of our family life. I was a former teacher and my husband and kids were athletes. We tended to have “museum style” trips in the winter months and very active vacations in the spring and summer. When the kids were smaller, that meant in the US we were found hiking the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon or looking for Rocky Mtn sheep or moose.

SCENIC COUNTRYSIDE

FAST DESCENT

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Ironically, the trips that were harder to plan were the active ones. My family could spend days in museums, believe it or not, and those types of trips allowed for more instant decision changes to allow for everyone’s needs. Not so on active trips. I could find the accommodations, make sure everyone had the right gear, get all the transport details locked down, but I could NOT make everyone happy on the trail. My husband hikes too fast. My little one always felt we were not treating her right. And I was always exhausted from being Management 100% of the trip.

So when my little one had just turned 8 and my oldest was almost 13, we signed up with a now defunct active travel company to hike the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. I had felt overwhelmed by trying to match the rail transport with trails we should take, and opted to take an easy way out because this specific tour group’s pricing was very comparative with what I had been planning on my own.

STEEPINCLINE

“Thirty Miles an Hour is bloody scary on an old road bike”

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D D

AN AMAZINGSENSE OF

I love to plan travel, and my family (now grown) loved to travel. In the late 90s and early 2000s, we had tons of frequent flyer miles because my husband basically was on a plane 5 days a week, and that combined with a strong dollar, provided a lot of incentive to get to Europe. My husband and kids were willing to stay in any type of place as long as it was clean (well, I’m not so sure the kids even cared about that), so I had a lot of options in using our travel dollar wisely. Overall, our vacations reflected different aspects of our family life. I was a former teacher and my husband and kids were athletes. We tended to have “museum style” trips in the winter months and very active vacations in the spring and summer. When the kids were smaller, that meant in the US we were found hiking the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon or looking for Rocky Mtn sheep or moose in national parks. Ironically, the trips that were harder to plan were the active ones. My family could spend days in museums, believe it or not, and those types of trips allowed for more instant decision changes to allow for everyone’s needs. Not so on active trips. I could find the accommodations, make sure everyone had the right gear, get all the transport details locked down, but I could NOT make everyone happy on the trail. My husband hikes too fast. My little one always felt we were not treating her right. And I was always exhausted from being Management 100% of the trip which wasnt great.

So when my little one had just turned 8 and my oldest was almost 13, we signed up with a now defunct active travel company to hike the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. I had felt overwhelmed by trying to match the rail transport with trails we should take, and opted to take an easy way out because this specific tour group’s pricing was very comparative with what I had been planning on my own. I love to plan travel, and my family (now grown) loved to travel. In the late 90s and early 2000s, we had tons of frequent flyer miles because my husband basically was on a plane 5 days a week, and that combined with a strong dollar, provided a lot of incentive to get to Europe. My husband and kids were willing to stay in any type of place as long as it was clean (well, I’m not so sure the kids even cared about that), so I had a lot of options in using our travel dollar wisely. Overall, our vacations reflected different aspects of our family life. I was a former teacher and my husband and kids were athletes. We tended to have “museum style” trips in the winter months and very

S P E E S P E E

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S P E E S P E E If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.

When the kids were smaller, that meant in the US we were found hiking the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon or looking for Rocky Mtn sheep or moose in national parks. what I had been planning on my own. I love to plan travel, and my family (now grown) loved to travel. In the late 90s and early 2000s, we had tons of frequent flyer miles because my husband basically was on a plane 5 days a week, and that combined. Ironically, the trips that were harder to plan were the active ones. My family could spend days in museums, believe it or not, and those types of trips

““

― Mario Andretti

allowed for more instant decision changes to allow for everyone’s needs. Not so on active trips. I could find the accommodations, make sure everyone had the right gear, get all the transport details locked down, but I could NOT make everyone happy on the trail. My husband hikes too fast. My little one always felt we were not treating her right. And I was always exhausted from being Management 100% of the trip.

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