Tommy Godwin - Long Distance Legend

Tommy Godwin - Long Distance Legend

 The link above is to a site dedicated to the most miles ridden in a year record set in 1939 and stands to this day by Tommy Godwin.  Really interesting and informative giving you breakdowns on daily mileages, info on the bike and equipment used in this Herculean record setting ride.

Gun fight with a knife !

A friend of mine recently had a new bike and we had said we would meet up for a ride but for one reason or another (weather) it never materialised. He's a pretty new convert to cycling getting bitten by the bug after riding to work every day on Cannondale Hybrid, so he thought he'd get all serious and buy a nice lightweight racer.

Rose Xeon RS

He had said he wanted some help looking for a bike because he's not to sure what to look for when trying to get the best bang for your buck, but out the blue he said he'd bought an aluminium framed Rose. I must admit  I thought he'd dropped a clanger. I'd seen a few Rose mtnbike's and knew they were German and had a reputation for delivering good value for money but that was about it. I was pleasantly surprised though as I think it's a lovely looking bike and he's upgraded some of the basic spec like the Mavic wheels, Prologo saddle and Shwalbe tyres to get the black and yellow colour nicely coordinated. The triple butted aluminium frame would give any carbon frame a run for it's money in the lightness stakes and is really finished beautifully. It's got a full a Shimano Ultegra groupset, inhouse carbon seat post and an aloy bar and all in all for £1,500 English pounds it's a lovely bike. He has now realised though he's on the slippery slope to empty wallet syndrome as he now needs new pedals/shoes, helmet, new kit and that list will just keep growing. Welcome to our world !

We finally got to go for the ride yesterday. As I would be on my steel framed single speed cx I was feeling a little bit of trepidation at the pain that no doubt I would soon be feeling. We criss crossed a lot of the roads that my local road/offroad loop takes but we were hitting the climbs that I try to avoid, one brute is 11% but not wanting to show my arse I just gritted my teeth and sucked it up. I think I will start fitting one or two into my rides from now on as i wasn't in to bad a shape after. When i got home the clock said 38km 1hr36min which isn't too shabby but i don't think I'd like to go much longer with him unless I was riding gears myself. My friend says he wants a new bike for work now and I've told him to get a single speed then I can give him some punishment. Fingers crossed.

Final round Halfords Tour Series Stoke-on-Trent

Like everybody in the UK at the moment I'm starting to get really pissed off with all the rain were having right now. It's getting to be a regular thing not having no summer after a mild spring and it's all down hill from here as we just had the longest day ! I was really getting into my stride in May bumping up the miles with the help of a Sports tracker app for my mobile which was adding a bit of spice to my rides and boosting my motivation to get out more. Crash bang wallop the monsoon season hits and the riding goes out the window and my motivation with it. WINNER !
Thank god there was some great racing on with the last week of the Giro being an epic battle between Rodriguez and Hesjedal but the stand out has to be Degendt's break on the Stelvio which gained him 5 mins on the GC and got him on the podium. LEGEND ! But if your a Brit there was only one talking point, Bradley Wiggins taking his second successive Dauphine after earlier wins in Romandie and Paris-Nice and in the form of his life. If he doe's pull off the Tour as well it would put him right up there with the greats. COME ON BRAD !

A bit closer to home on the racing front I got to watch the final round of the Halfords Tour Series last week when it rolled in to town.

U23 Road Race world champion Lucy Garner

The forecast for rain for when the racing was due to start had me in two minds to go or not but it's not every day Lucy Garner comes to town wearing the rainbow jersey. I was planning on asking for a photo with her but I bottled it thinking I would come across as an old perv. So when she just pulled up in front of me to speak to someone before she signed on to race I couldn't believe my luck and managed to get these two photo's. There were a few blokes with jaw dropping looks on there faces and I'll be the first one to admit I was one of them. What a stunner. The sky's the limit for this rider on and off the road. Lizz Hatch who ?

The women's race got started under pretty tough,windy conditions, gusting and whipping up and around the buildings lining the course splitting the bunch and causing all sorts of problems from the off.

Not so for Helen Wyman she smashed it making the most of the crosswinds and tough course storming off to break on her own and solo it all the way to the finishing line.

Kona rider Helen Wyman

Luct Garner finished in the bunch

I didn't stay to watch the end of the men's race because now I was bloody frozen and the rain had started so I left a tadd pissed off because I'd watched most of the earlier rounds on ITV4 being bathed in glorious sunshine. Welcome to sunny Stoke as we say round these parts. I got a few photo's before I left though.

On the night Raleigh-GAC rider Bernard Sulzberger took the individual and Series Sprint King prize. Our local team Node4-Giordana Racing took the team honours on the night while Endura took the series which they had led from the first round. Last years winners Rapha won the special for this round Tommy Godwin Team Time Trial in honour of our local most miles ridden in a year world record holder Tommy Godwin with 76,000 miles ridden and 100,000 miles in 500 days set in 1940 and still stands to this day. I still can't for the life of me understand why Stoke on Trent City council don't make more of this mans amazing achievements.

Bring on Le Tour 2012 !

TRP Inplace Adjust pad set up

After seeing that there's quite a few posts here and there asking how you set up toe in on Frogglegs canti's, I thought I`d do a post to show how to set up these pads as anybody who has bought Frogglegs canti`s will know you don`t get any instruction manual with them, leaving you to figure it out for yourself. It wasn't till I came across a pic of the more expensive pads with angle markings that it became obvious how the unique set up of the inplace adjust actually worked, but without the markings it's a bloody mystery. I'd thought that mine were faulty because one of the pads was angled differently to the rest ! Now I've got them set up right they're working a lot better, more stopping power and it's quite a nifty system and in my opinion better and easier to set toe in than the conical washer system.

The pic above shows the hole in the end of the pad post, where you put the alan key and turn till it loosens the pad holder enabling you to set your toe in. You can also adjust the pad up or down too.

The pic above shows you how much the pad swivels in the oppisite direction. Like I sad before once you know how it's a really easy and smart way to get your toe in and i'm sure some of the bad stuff on the forums i've read about these brakes is down to not knowing how these pads work.

This is my Pompino, there are many like it but this one is mine...

This shot was taken using my niece's Cannon SLR camera. I'm sure I could of got a better shot if I knew what I was doing but I don't think it's too shabby. I've been using an old Casio Exifilm 7.2 mega pixels which I've never been really happy with but that could be down to me too.

I've started using using my Nokia x6 phone after fixing the broken screen and LCD. The shot above was from the x6,  it uses a 5 MP Carl Zeiss optic and I really don't think I shall bother carrying a camera again even if it was only a compact. The added bonus with x6 is I can listen to my tunes as well.

Just after taking this shot  I nearly came a cropper when a bloody great big tractor came flying over the brow of the hill !!

You can't tell from the shot above as it's as dry as it gets but in winter the mud can  be ankle deep along this stretch of track.

Single Speed CX Porn

  This has surely got to be THE definition of bicycle porn

Indy Fab belt drive

Speedvagen

Dreesens

Moots Pysclocx

Engin cycles ti cx

Tommeke Tommeke Tommeke

                                                                                                     

Tom Boonens attack today with over 50 km's to go was great to watch and I bet even a watching

Cancerlara would of been wondering if even he could of held his wheel. I didn't get to watch last weeks win at Flanders live but I'd recorded it so spent most of the week until I could watch it trying to avoid finding out  the result. 

Flanders has always been my favourite race but with the Muur & the Bosberg  removed from the race I have to say for me it's just not the same, a bit like watching the last day of the tour without the Champs Elysees. Tom, today though made up for any let downs from the organisers of the Flanders, I have always been a fan of Tom not just for his riding but because he is a real character and obviously not afraid to enjoy life away from cycling, anybody who can twice test positive for Cocaine and then ride a classics campaign like Tom has and equalled De Vlaeminck's record of four Roubaix wins is a bit special, the only rider ever to win Gent Wevelgem, E 3, Flanders & Roubaix in the same season. I'd like to know what his accusers of being a wheel sucker are thinking now ? Chapeau Tom Boonen. 

More Liz Hatch

Project Pomppimppino

I've added a couple more of my planned upgrades in a new seat post and saddle. I went with the eXotic carbon & Ti in line post that I wanted but went with a Flite XC Ti and not the Team model I'd initially wanted. The post is a nice looking thing, light as a feather compared to the stock post and for the money well finished, and I've always liked the old school seat clamp arrangement it has it reminds of the USE post's in the mid 90's. It seems to improve on comfort or I might just be kidding myself but it could be as I don't think it's the seat as that's very firm. The seat was a different story as Selle Italia need no introduction and is a quality piece of kit, just what you expect from a saddle costing a £100 although I managed to get it for half that from the good folks at ON ONE . Flite saddle's are a favourite of mine but this one's a bit different it's very firm but with the Perfict Fit self moulding padding and tubular Titinium rails I expect it to get a bit softer as it breaks in or I hope it does as my butts been suffering a bit on longer ride's. It has a channel down the middle which i'm not sure I like as i'm sure that's what is causing  the discomfort. I think the Lorica cover and Kevlar shoulder should keep it looking fresh and new a while as it will wipe clean.

I've had the bike on a couple of ride's now and I'm sure that the post as improved the ride comfort wise or I may just be fooling my self. It's starting to really take shape into the killer cross bike that I want !

The next step in the project will be the crank and freewheel set up as at the moment i'm running with the stronglight track 44 tooth ring crank it came with and a bag of shit 20 tooth dicta freewheel.
There a 170mm crank arm and there's a little bit of toe overlap with the front wheel so i've been looking for a 165 length but there does'nt seem to be a lot of choice for  road or cross chainsets in that length with SRAM looking the most likely but I'll still keep looking for an FSA though. I going to put a 16T Shimano freewheel on the back and a 34 or 36T ring up front most likely either Middleburn or homebrewed Components and with a carbon fork up front with a Chriss King headset she won't look half bad.     

Winter come & gone

Last week I made the most of  freezing temps and the rock hard ground with mostly night rides, which ended on the Friday night with the thermometer hitting about -10 C and my water bottle freezing.

 Winter is my favorite season so when the snow came on Saturday I didn't waste any time and spent nearly 4 hrs riding the local trails and lanes. It ended up being quite a slog in the end has it came down thick and fast, with about 6-7 inches in 5 hrs which would of been much deeper but it was falling as sleet at times. I decided to call it a day when I was soaked through and getting pretty cold.As is the case a lot of time with winters in the UK it started to thaw the next day, and by the middle of the week the trails were like a scene from the Somme but that's another story. Here's some of the shot's from Saturday.

Contador ban what a joke !

El Pisterlero must be laughing his socks off with back dated ban and the loss of the title's he's won since testing positive. I would feel sorry for the riders who have now been given the wins,  if I could 100 % trust them of being clean, because if Contador had been banned they would of won "fairly".
The people who I do feel sorry for are the fans, every race involving El Cheat since his postive has been rendered completely meaningless by this back dated ban. The results as they stand are worthless because they will mean nothing to the riders, no rider wants a title with an asteric attatched to it on his palmeres. Just when you think that cycling is entering a new cleaner era it get's dragged back down into the mire again. 

Ride your Funking Bike

Lovin this tune !

"LOVE HATCH"

If you have seen my first couple of posts you will have noticed I've a thing for women cyclist's none more so than the gorgeous Liz Hatch. So after reading that she had retired i couldn't resist from posting some of her pics so here's a few of my faves...

I went out on my first proper rides this week since my stack. I've always been a risk taker and have tendency to under estimate my lack of skill so  i said to myself  "fook it" i couldn't sit about and wait for a doctor to give me the all clear . The injury to my shoulder was a collarbone that now sticks out of the joint with the shoulder blade by about  an inch and torn ligaments which is still sore to touch and i still can't sleep on that side.
So by Tuesday evening I'd had enough, stuck my lights on and set of for a little loop. I couldn't resist the pull of doing a bit  off road and the  farm track that i used to take on my mtbike. The track is heavily pot holed and rutted and not made any better by some heavy rain in the last couple of days , with a busted shoulder and skinny tyres it was probably best to avoid, did i mention  lack of skill ? This is my first skinny tyred bike so i don't know what kind of punishment the skinny wheels will take, I'm not carrying a pump either and every hole i hit feels like I'm hitting the bloody rims. The hole's and ruts are full of water so sploshing threw was risking a trip over the bars again ! It was a lot of fun  but the small lake at the bottom of the track where the all the rain that runs off the surrounding fields gathers and pools, and that I'd plough through on my mtbike i thought it best to get off and push  instead. I'd normally head up into Hanchurch woods on my mtbike but i wasn't  even going to try on a skinny wheeled SS, so I headed of to try some Pave`!  Er' i mean cobbled back alley's ! It was a bit of fun actually it was a lot of fun but the next day the cumulative affects of not having ridden for nearly 4 months prior, the having one gear and a soft undercarriage was in full affect. Didn't stop me doing it all again the following night though !

Chapeau Tommy Godwin Chapeau !!

A lot of people might already know about this story as there seems to be quite a bit of interest about this cyclist recently, but like me (until recently), there is probably quite a few that don't know the story specially those outside the UK and it's quite an amazing story for anybody interested in Cycling and especially the endurance side of the sport.

Tommy Godwin (not to be confused with the medal winning Olympic Track cyclist of the same name and era) holds the world record for the most miles ridden in a year which stands at an absolutely staggering 75,065 miles (120,805 km) which still stands to this day.
Tommy was born in 1912 in Stoke-on-Trent which as it happens is my home city. He worked as an errand boy for a local green grocer delivering groceries on an iron framed bike with a basket on the front. When he was 14 he entered 25 mile TT race on said bike and won. He rode amature for local club Potteries cc, It wasn't long before he was attracting sponsorship and rode professional for Rickmonsworth cc, Raleigh & Sturmey Archer.

In 1939 he lined up with Edward Swan and Bernard Bennett to attempt the most miles in a year record which then stood at 62,657 miles (100,837km) set in 1937 by Australian Ossie Nicholson. The record was first set in 1911 by Frenchman Marcel Planes at 34,666 miles(55,790km) on a single gear and was broke another 6 times by 1937.
Edward Swan crashed out just short of a 1000 mile. Tommy and Bernard were paced to 50,000miles(80,000km) but were then left to battle it out. Bernard Bennet reached 65,127miles(104,812km) but Tommy had broke the previous record after only 9 months and by the years end had clocked 75,065miles truly astonishing but for Tommy that wasn't enough because he carried into 1940 through the blackouts at the start of the Second World War to reach the crazy 100,000 miles(160,000km) mark in 500 days ! And when you think he did this sticking to his vegetarian diet while riding a bike weighing 30lbs(14kgs) and with only 3 gears just seems completely mind blowing. It would take him weeks just to walk properly again. This would be an astonishing feat if done today, although the Guinness book of records would not record it as to put people off from attempting it as they deem it to be too dangerous.

After the war the Olympics were held in London in 1948 but Tommy having ridden professional wasn't allowed to take part denying him the chance of real recognition he deserved. Tommy's working class background meant he had to ride professionally . He would finish his career with more than 200 professional  road and TTa wins. Tommy died in 1975 while out riding his bike just the way he probably wanted it.

In 2005 plaque was put on the wall of a sports centre in the Fenton area of Stoke-on-Trent where he was born  commemorating him, as i was living in London at the time it's probably why I hadn't come across him until now.  I am sure you would agree that it seems an injustice that the level of recognition is minimal to say the least, and unfair for the fact that had he stayed amature and been able to ride the 1948 Olympics he would probably be a household name today. This story is crying out for a book and is great material for a film. I really hope that now the story is getting a  more exposure he will get  more than just a plaque on a wall of a sports centre, a statue would be more fitting.

Chapeau Tommy.

Peak District bikepacking 2010

A few pics from last year on 3 day,100 mile round trip from my front door !!