Epping Forest is a Mecca for London cyclists and an area where access to the ‘people’s forest’ is seen as a birth-right. Well, it is now, but only after a fight. At the end of the 19th Century Epping Forest like other common lands, forests or heaths was in danger of being swallowed by London’s… Continue Reading
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Murals have a long history of presenting a narrative, a sentiment, a joke or simply a nice artwork. They are the embodiment of art in a public space. Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera reflected the narratives of US and Mexican history respectively along with many others by creating epic art works that few people… Continue Reading
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I came to London in the late eighties and soon found myself involved in local politics including housing issues, and I enjoyed some great times with anarchists who sometimes weren’t really sure why I would talk about cycles, not political cycles but the pedal version. It was in 1994 when I and a group of… Continue Reading
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Post World War Two the London County Council commissioned Peter Laszlo Peri to create art as part of a desire to enrich the public realm; “as emblems of civic renewal and social progress” (Heritage Calling). Three of Peri’s works are within a short walk of my home in Vauxhall, London. Peri was a Hungarian born… Continue Reading
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Herne Hill Velodrome is a bright jewel in London’s heritage and it is a rare survivor of not only the 19th century boom or bust approach to sport it, but also a past Olympic venue (1948). Built in 1891 Herne Hill Velodrome situated in south London became Britain’s premier cycle track, drawing huge crowds, and… Continue Reading
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‘If you can race at Palace you can race anywhere’ – I was told that when I first got involved in cycle sport in London. Crystal Palace is a park in the south London borough of Bromley which was once the home of the Crystal Palace, the star of the Great Exhibition held during 1851… Continue Reading
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The River Thames towpath gravel cycle ride from Putney to Hampton court is just under 26 kilometres long and can be completed in a hour and a bit (plus the time taken to get to Putney or Hampton Court) making it a convenient London ride for when time poor. I often combine it with the… Continue Reading
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The 2012 Olympic Games cycle road races featured nine ascents of the Zig Zag road, better known as Box Hill, for the men and two for the women. It was intended that this North Downs climb would smash the race apart. Sadly, for the British team working for Mark Cavendish and despite setting the pace… Continue Reading
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London has many lost rivers, all now almost unseen except for a few glimpses through drains, culverts or pipes. In Vauxhall the Effra is no longer the partly navigable river it once was and now is buried deep underground covered by roads and buildings. An outlet pipe into the River Thames is our only visible… Continue Reading
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Germany has a strong cycle race scene covering the same territory as the UK with the addition of a good following for cycle football and artistic cycling. For us in the UK the idea that something is a ‘hobby’ is a bit like being told that something is ‘nice’, such words can be construed as… Continue Reading
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The North Downs are a long line of green high ground to the south of London. The Downs have become a place of pilgrimage for cyclists on and off road and here you can find sunken roads, great views plus killer climbs – not a place for the pious rather a place for any cycling… Continue Reading
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In April 2018 I travelled back in time to the now defunct German internal grenze (border) at the Wurmberg Mountain. In the mid-eighties I had stood on the west side of the Grenze half way up the Wurmberg Mountain in the Harz, a region of mountains rich in folklore set in central Germany. Above my… Continue Reading
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Paris Roubaix is a race that attracts me because it doesn’t follow the tarmac. In the present era media giant SKY Television has built its global reach upon football, the sport was the lynchpin of the SKY satellite TV business model and it revolutionised how football and sport in general is now financed. Cycle sport… Continue Reading
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I was on a training camp in Italy and a fellow guest spoke up loudly that the almost five minute ride out from our sea front hotel to the country roads was far too long. Laughed? We would have but our breath was further taken from us by a follow up comment – ‘it’s a… Continue Reading
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Belgium one cycling nation – Kassein or Pavé? / Belgien ist eine Nation von Radfahrern – Kassein oder Pavé? The picture above is of World and Olympic Champion Nicole Cooke riding the Muur de Huy during La Fleche Walonne Classic Name a famous Belgian ‘Plastic Bertrand’ I replied – ‘nah, someone famous, name me a famous Belgian’? My… Continue Reading
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I have spent time in Berlin and other German towns and cities over the years, and I have a huge regret. I must admit to feeling a bit silly, but here it is: I regret not watching the Viktoriapark cyclo cross race held in Berlin. My image of Berlin was built on cold war film… Continue Reading
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Results and video links to UCI rated cyclo cross races unless otherwise stated. The big issue being geo-restrictions on content. 2016/17 Season – 2015/16 Season February 25 Internationale Sluitingsprijs – February 25 The final international cyclo cross race of the 2017/18 season was the Internationale Sluitingsprijs held at Oostmalle, Belgium. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3O2yTH1tU Elite Men 1 Mathieu Van Der… Continue Reading
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Video and Picture links for the Kinesis UK London and South East 2017/18 Cyclo-Cross League. 2016/17 League – 2015/16 League – London/SE Cross Website Kinesis UK London and South East Cyclo Cross League Rd 1 Round one of the Cyclefit London and South East Cyclo Cross League (and Rd 1 of the Sussex League) held at Stanmer Park… Continue Reading
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The Harz Mountains are 2,226 square kilometres of medium sized mountains and forest that seems to have been spit out of the ground of middle Germany. Circling the Harz are the cities of Hannover, Gottingen, Wolfsburg, Leipzig and Magdeburg. Much of the Harz today is a national park and the area is home to a… Continue Reading
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Even if abandoned, it must still lead somewhere? I said to myself. Is it a redundant motorway, an abandoned motor racing circuit or maybe an airport? It has shades of each? Now I know At one end of this traffic free concrete road or ‘Betonweg’ are modern and rehabbed housing, a college and public sport… Continue Reading
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When so many years ago Good Friday Track Meeting promoter Graham Bristow organised a cyclo cross race at Herne Hill Velodrome in London approximately 25 people turned up for what was quite good fun. Since then cyclo cross has become British Cycling’s largest growing cycle race discipline and this is mirrored across the world including… Continue Reading
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When I was young I wasn’t a great reader of books, comics yes and it was only when into my mid-teens did I start devouring literature. Books by Jean Paul Sarte and the like, I chose anything that added a wee bit of intellectual or even Parisian ‘left bank’ sparkle to my life. But even… Continue Reading
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The River Thames is 215 miles long and I have been riding my bike along the Putney to Hampton Court section for 20 odd years. The ‘gravel’ Thames path here lines the south bank of the river and has been my regular haunt to play out my ‘Roubaixesque’ fantasies. It’s not a tough ride but it… Continue Reading
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A Sunday trip to visit a friend in Finchley, London saw me walk from Woodside Park Tube Station and along Lodge Lane. Although I nearly missed it, I spotted a plaque placed on the pavement in front of a modest house flagging up that the first British soldier to die in World War One spent… Continue Reading
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Having a bad day or happy that it’s all going so well? – So what could go wrong? It all looked so good for Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the top engineer of his day as he looked on as the launch of his new ship the SS Great Eastern was about to happen. With a history… Continue Reading
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Along the River Thames In London there are the obvious signs of its industrial and global shipping past. Redundant machinery, abandoned wharfes and slipways point to this industrial and commercial history, but if you look hard enough at the foreshore you can find more personal items associated with the people who lived or worked on… Continue Reading
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In October 1936 Sir Oswald Mosley attempted to lead the British Union of Fascists (BUF) along Cable Street into a London East End community and take control of the streets and enflame not only the local community, but also the country against Jewish people. Oswald was following a tactic that had worked in Germany and… Continue Reading
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The 2017 Fifth Floor London Summer Cyclo Cross series was held over four rounds in London. The first at Jubilee Park in Leyton, the next at Frylands Scout Camp, the third at Bekenham Place Park and the final at Herne Hill, the 1948 Olympic venue and the second oldest velodrome in the world. Much great… Continue Reading
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English Victorian’s seem to have invented everything, whether this is true is debatable, but what we can say for sure is that they were mad on sport. Historian Christopher Hill described it as the ‘World Turned Upside Down’ – the period when the UK moved from an agrarian economy to being one of manufacture and… Continue Reading
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London is full of seemingly forgotten stories that can come alive if you have an enquiring mind and if you look beyond the obvious. Whilst I was hunting for a lost Victorian velodrome in east London I came across a rather nice mural painted close to where the velodromes northern banking would have been. Looking… Continue Reading
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My post about the Gottingen Stadtfriedhof in central Germany and the sense of abandonment I felt whilst there, got me thinking. It made me think closer to home and so now I stand in Earlsfield Cemetery in Wandsworth, south London. At the dawn of the 20th Century European nations were tied together by many separate treaties, which… Continue Reading
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Separation, abandonment or ‘left behind’ are words that will scare most of us. These thoughts came into my head as I stood in a Stadtfriedhof in deepest central Germany. Before me stood two grave stones and a third not in sight but close by of three soldiers of the ‘Great War’. What sparked a reaction… Continue Reading
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UCI rated cyclo cross races unless otherwise stated. The big issue being geo-restrictions on content. 2015/16 Season Upcoming races (results & video links yet to be added) That’s it for the season. February 19 2017 Internationale Sluitingsprijs – February 19 The last international cyclo cross of the season held at Oostmalle, Belgium. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ajkDLIWSk (Bit of both races) Elite… Continue Reading
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Video and Picture links for the London and South East 2016/17 Cyclo-Cross League 2015/16 League – London/SE Cross Website Cyclefit London and South East Cyclo Cross Team Championships The London Cyclo Cross Association Team Championships held at Great Walstead School, Sussex on February 5 and promoted by Crawley Wheelers – GO THERE Cyclefit London and South East Cyclo Cross League Rd 13 The thirteenth… Continue Reading
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Not all cycle races or rides are created equal but some stand out because they are more than just another race or ride. Not only do they offer extra drama (OK, chaos) but also add something different. I am drawn to races and rides that are in this camp. I like track cycling but it’s… Continue Reading
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It’s one thing to witness cycling become so popular that I and others no longer feel members of a renegade tribe, but to have my long love of dirt riding suddenly to become fashionable with the added indignity of calling it ‘Gravel’, is almost too much to bear. But I’m not bitter. I have been… Continue Reading
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The London Cyclo-Cross association came into being in the 1950’s and a league has run ever since, although in the 2000’s we added ‘South East’ to the League title as many races are not actually held in London. In those early years it was oh so much simpler for the LCCA to promote at venues… Continue Reading
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The first round of the Tradervan/Hackney GT Beastway Mountain Bike Series held at Redbridge Cycle Centre, NE London on Saturday April 9. Grassroots MTB racing that has run for 24 years and after being a member of the ‘Tyranny’ that organised the series for 19 years, it was great to attend as a ‘civilian’. Lots… Continue Reading
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2016 marked the 10th year since the last season of events were held at the Eastway Cycle Circuit when the beloved cycle venue was wiped away with the holding of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Opened in June 1975 the Lee Valley Eastway Cycle Racing Circuit celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2000 and few would have… Continue Reading
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International 2015/16 Cycle Events with a hint of dirt. Those shown are UCI rated races unless otherwise stated. February 24 2016 Masters Waregem Cyclocross 2016 The evening of madness, bunny hopping and racing held mid week on February 24 and the close of the 2015/16 cyclo-cross season. Video: http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2582070 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgwZdoXiPxo Elite Men 1 Sven Nys 0:29:57 2… Continue Reading
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Video and Picture links for the London and South East 2015/16 Cyclo-Cross League Cyclefit London and South East Cyclo Cross Team Championships The Cyclefit London and South East Cyclo Cross Team Championship held at Great Wanstead School, nr Haywards Heath, Sussex on February 7 2016 – GO THERE Cyclefit London and South East Cyclo Cross League Rd 15 Round fifteen no senior races –… Continue Reading
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The 3rd January 2016 saw a heroic cyclo-cross race held when heavy rain fell and high winds lashed Round 12 of the London/SE Cyclo-Cross League at a venue that was created in 2012 on an abandoned section of the A2 road. Route 66 is an iconic highway that once spanned the USA and is probably the most famous road in the… Continue Reading
