On climbing, numbers, Strava

There were mixed emotions being back in my hometown after only brief visits over the last 10 years. So much had changed but then so much was the same. Local people who I’ve known all my life juxtaposed with newer arrivals who pegged me for an out-of-towner, which I am – I guess. I feel …

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February 20, 2013 – 9:24 am | By Guy WR | Posted in Climbing Skills, Local Climbs | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

A manifesto

Pro cycling is in the process of destroying itself. Although we cannot be entirely sure of the minute details of the politics and power struggles behind the scenes, the leadership at the top of the sport – at least by what we see in the media – seems more interested in protecting their individual reputations …

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February 14, 2013 – 11:39 am | By Guy WR | Posted in Meanings, Posts | Tagged | Comments (0)

Les prisonniers

For their 1982 album, The Number of the Beast, the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden recorded a song called The Prisoner, inspired by the 1960s TV show of the same name. The song is introduced by dialogue from the actual series (“Who are you? The new number 2. Who is number 1. You are …

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January 11, 2013 – 1:45 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Doping, Meanings | Comments (2)

New Year ruminations

Winter can often be a time of contemplation. If, like your author, you’re having an ‘Italian winter’ (waiting for the rain to stop before getting on your bike), you’ll be finding other ways to get your cycling fix. Recently, for example, your author has become somewhat fixated on interrogating his current choice of gear ratios …

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January 6, 2013 – 3:13 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Meanings | Comments (0)

New Zealander of the year

This year, 2012, the whistle-blowing former Tour de France cyclist Stephen Swart was given the award for New Zealander of the Year. The award, started in 1991, has included cultural icons from the arts (Dame Malvina Major, Jane Campion, Peter Jackson), sporting stars from yachting, rugby and the Olympics, as well as authors, scientists, politicians …

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December 26, 2012 – 2:02 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Doping, Meanings | Comments (0)

On ossification and the ‘rules’ of cycling

The rain rolling against the window like the sound of a tom-tom drum. The phone ringing early, way too early. “Smiley, it’s Eighter,” the voice saying through the fog of the early morning. “I’m sick today. Can you cover for me?” Then, the hurried breakfast, university classes forgotten for the day, pulling on a long-sleeve …

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November 22, 2012 – 8:03 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Meanings | Comments (3)

What remains: A Ventoux vignette

There was a moment on the 2002 Tour de France, some ten years ago, when Armstrong’s game was almost up. A brief moment where two commentators could have done something unprecedented and simply called it all off, much as some others wanted to do during the Sestrières stage in 1999. But they did not and – …

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October 24, 2012 – 1:02 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Doping, Meanings | Tagged , , | Comments (5)