Equilibrium

e·qui·lib·ri·um

noun: equilibrium; plural noun: equilibria

a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.

Roadside stop in Tuscany after climbing the mountains in the background

Someone asked me a while back why do I enjoy cycling?  Why do I ride for so long?  Why do you put up with the pain of pushing yourself to/ beyond your comfortable limit?  Surely you can’t enjoy being out in the rain, wind, snow!  Fair point I thought after pulling leaves and mud out from my race blades one wintery Sunday morning only about 4 months ago!

So what is it?  Well here’s a list of the reasons I adore cycling:

·        A feeling of accomplishment at getting to the top of a big hill

·        Keeping fit

·        Going really fast

·        The fact endurance cyclists live apparently 10 years longer than average

·        Getting out into the world and enjoying nature

Check! All of these are reasons why I love cycling.  But you can do other things to check these boxes off, right?

Then I thought about what cycling gives you over any other sport I think I understood it on a recent sportive where after a reasonably paced first 80-90km I still had some juice left and decided to go for it on the last 20km.  I hit the sweet spot and hit a reasonable average for a 10 mile distance too (well after 80k anyway!); the point here though is that during that 10 I achieved that magical feeling where you feel at one with the bike.  It’s as if wind resistance drops, all the bearings on your bike turn into magnetic frictionless clouds and every peddle stroke feels easier than the last.  Even at 90-100rpm and 40kmh your legs are hurting after doing 1500m of climbing and your heart rate looks too high but you cope with it and your brain stops thinking and push a higher gear.  That’s the point – you stop looking at numbers and peddle and peddle and peddle; you arrive at the end and think ‘how did I get here?’

It’s that addictive feeling of ‘equilibrium’ between you and the bike that provides an almost meditative state which ascends you to a new level of achievement and drives you to go out the next day and do it again.

A recent trip to Tuscany and cycling 10km up 7%+ gradients also gave me the same feeling, but with a massive sensation of accomplishment at the end.  I can’t wait to get on the Tourmalet on the 24^th July – with the Pyrenean views and a gentle mountain breeze followed by the peleton whizzing past it’s gonna be some trip!

'Monsieur Le Wiggans' - hot and cold thoughts on Wiggo

 Given his recent incredible performance at the Tour of California and his upcoming appearance in the Tour de Suisse (and most likely Le TdF too) it seems an appropriate time to write a piece on Wiggins.

Wiggins in Yellow riding up the Col de Peyresourde on the route to 2012 TdF victory (© Ben O'Meara)

When you see the level of Wiggin’s form this year it’s reminiscent of the golden year of 2012, where Wiggins took the first British Grand tour win and an Olympic gold medal.  This was a tour win described by some critics as scientific and un-romantic, however it appealed to me due to the methodical, ruthless and brutal approach demonstrated by Team Sky.  Even with the denied Wiggins/ Froome internal politics and the so called war of the cycling wags on twitter (mainly just incompetent media reporters believing cycling fans would be interested in this kind or literary rubbish); it really did change the face of international cycling in so many ways.  For these changes we have to thank Wiggins & Brailsford and the likes of Ellingsworth and Kerrison at Team Sky as well as just being grateful for the fact all these pieces came together at the same time.

On the flipside you’re often given the impression he can be somewhat un-gracious in defeat, but understandably so given the amount of sacrifice and effort he puts into a race which can be ruined through no fault of his own.  So this combined with the view some have that Wiggo himself has seemingly tried to use the media to put a stake in the ground and make his demands on which races he would ride can give a hot/ cold appreciation of Wiggins who is still undeniably one of the top ‘versatile’ road cyclists around.

This aside Wiggin’s recent performance in Paris-Roubaix really did make me sit up and appreciate him again due mainly to the fact he is a big cycling fan himself; he obviously understood that this classic was a dangerous race that could wipe the rest of his season; he carried on, raced and got a decent top ten finish, something Cancellara himself rubbished just before the race, with the initial goal of writing himself further into cycling legend.  This was in turn reminiscent of his attempt in 2013 at the Giro, a course far more suited to the climbing specialists, as proved by Nibali who took the GC early on.

So all factors considered whatever you feel about Wiggins he still goes down as one of Great Britain’s greatest ever athletes.  An attempt at the recently ratified UCI hour record, success in another monument would only confirm that - he's already entered the book of cycling legend...........however you may feel about Wiggo ‘the boy from Wigan’, ‘the mod’ or 'the grumpy loser’!

Irish Weather cycling, poor old Dan Martin and a belated Giro preview

My poor Ribble suffering this weekend in the Irish like weather of the Sussex Downs

A fascinating weekend of racing at the Giro with a huge amount of disappointment for Irish cycling fans with the retirement of Dan Martin to a broken collar bone.   Dan’s had a great amount of success over the last couple of seasons and seems to have consistently built his form and his Palmares too.  Success at last year’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Volta a Catalunya with a 2^nd at Fleche-Wallone recently combined with support from a very strong Garmin team (comprising previous Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal) meant this could be the year Dan made everyone aware of his Grand tour potential.  Such a shame for Dan especially with the recent crash out in the 2014 L-B-L when in a winning position on the final bend, now to suffer misfortune in Ireland…..well best wishes to you Dan.  I hope the surgery today goes well.

May the luck of the panda be with you!!

Another Irishman Nico Roche is still in with a great chance of a good GC placing/ win in the Giro. Deignan from team sky is also showing signs of being a quality rider too so hopefully we’re going into a period of further success for Irish cycling over the next few years.

I did wonder if by moving to Tinkoff-Saxo team whether Roche was making the best move- he’d obviously had limited success previously with Ag2R with good additions to his palmares in La Vuelta and great results in the shorter stage races of Paris-Nice.  I assumed he’d be over-shadowed by Contador and Kreuziger, so I’m chuffed he’s got the backing to show what he’s capable of this Giro and hopefully other stage races too.

As for the overall result in the Giro, I think you’d be crazy to bet against Nairo Quintana, seemingly in a rich vein of form and with a strong support team based around a core group of climbers. I really think the stronger climbing ability of Team Movistar will give Nairo the advantage over Evans, Uran-Uran and Basso who have teams comprising of sprinters and rouleurs too.  I think Quintana will shine on the final TT which looks to be a real uphill test.   However I do have a feeling the Dario Cataldo of Team Sky has something in his pocket; indeed I got him at 150-1….. each way!

Although Kittel has won the first 2 sprint stages I think he’s could be susceptible to losing the overall points jersey to Elia Viviani, who similarly to Sagan, can pick up points at a number of different stages in the race, not just the big bunch sprints.  

Anyway here’s to a great Giro now they’ve battled the infamous Irish weather let’s hope it hot’s up further on the road to Trieste!

p.s Big congratulations to Marianne Vos – another great win this weekend.  Further proof she is the best cyclist in the world at the moment!

An Addiction to History - Why we do it?

So here it is my first blog post! I'm going to write a few more over the course of the summer but for now I wanted to share my thoughts on why so many have such a passion for the sport.

And what a time to begin writing, the start of a long summer comprising of: my 30^th birthday, my first ride up a French mountain and hopefully lot’s of sunny coffee fueled rides with my usual riding buddies.  Moving from the classics of the spring to the Grand tours of the summer has got me thinking about why the sport of ‘Le Peleton’ becomes such an encapsulating, dramatic and inspiring spectacle?

© Ben O'Meara - Taken at the 2012 TDF on the Peyresourde - Basso, Nibali, Wiggins & Froome

Today is the start of the Giro D’Italia, a race which although unequal to my pure un-adulterated passion and excitement for the Tour de France is a close second (well maybe joint second with Paris-Roubaix).  Little by little I’m being exposed to the history of the likes of Bartali & Coppi then to the Mercx and Hinault era on to the sad story of Pantani through various books/ magazines I’m seemingly constantly buried in.  I’m gradually beginning to get sucked in to the Giro just like I was with ‘Le Tour’ just prior to my first visit to see ‘le Grand Boucle’ in 2012 on the Col-de-Peyresourde (also the start of my love hate relationship with ‘Monsieur Bradlee Weeggans’, something for later...).  This similarity lets me understand why fans of cycling are caught in a loop of perpetual self-generation of their own passion for the sport.

You see cycling becomes an obsession; playing on the pitch at Wembley stadium, kicking a drop goal a Twickenham, feeling the roar as Mayweather enters the arena in Vegas – all of these are landmark events few  ever experience- in cycling the road is the stadium!  Each year thousands cycle up Europe’s various mountains getting closer to understanding the pain, dedication, elation and disappointment the male and female pro-cyclists put themselves through to write either their teammates or themselves into cycling legend.

© Ben O'Meara - taken at the 2012 TDF Mark Cavendish giving me evils from the center of the autobus!

It’s only through a combination of understanding this legend and continuously challenging yourself to push your own limits that you generate and addictive a passion for the sport of cycling that for me is incomparable with other sports.  It’s a feeling you enjoy watching cycling which is comparable to the feeling you get when riding; when everything is perfect, when you feel like you can ride for 35kmh for ever – I've heard this called 'equilibrium’ before and is something I’ll write about in my next blog post!

I’m still on the upward curve of this journey of understanding but I know this summer when I reach the top of Le Tourmalet, I’ll only experience a fraction of the emotions the likes of Froome & Contador will feel only a few hours later, maybe this time next year I’ll experience the same feeling as I inch up ‘La Passa del Stelvio’ shortly before spectating from the Coliseum of the Italian road side.

That feeling (accomplishment?), that’s why we do it!