Damian Lopez Alphonso is Hardcore.

In cycling we are used to hearing about people suffering, about the Belgian flahute, the Scottish hardman, the bad-ass that trains in all weathers and the ‘shut up legs’ mythology of the World Tour Pros. All very well but over the last  2 weeks it has been my inestimable pleasure to have been training daily with Cuban Paralympic cyclist Damian Lopez, a man who defines tough, a rider who has transcended known boundaries of difficulty, pain and disadvantage to become a truly great cyclist now riding on the world stage of the Paralympic Games 2012.

Things are not easy for Damian but he does not complain, does not shy away from his dreams and does not stop riding his bike with very great skill and utmost determination.

My hook-up with Damian came via my pal Jake at GlasgowLife who put word out that Damian was going to be in Glasgow along with the rest of the Cuban Paralympian team, all doing their tune ups prior to competing at the Para Games in London. I didn't know it then but I do now - Havana is twinned with Glasgow.

Luckily my schedule, or perhaps more accurately my current lack of schedule, allowed me to commit to turning up to each and every one of his planned training sessions to help out in any way I could. The idea of course was to grant Damian time to adapt to the roads and the weather on this side of the Atlantic whilst getting the rides and efforts that his coach Rafael determined necessary in this, his last vital last block of hard training before his journey south to compete in the Games.

So I found myself a bit sloppy and sluggish on the bike with 3 weeks to go before he was due in town - I really had to get my finger out to ensure that I was going to be of at least some use to him as a training partner. I've not been anywhere near race fit this year but I did what I could in the time available so that on Damian’s arrival in Scotland I was a little skinnier and a bit faster and certainly I was mighty curious and excited about meeting the man.

You can read more about him and his story in the links at the bottom of the page. 

9am at the Malletsheugh Inn was the call arranged by Tom O’Hara who was co-ordinating the sessions. Sure enough when I got there on the first day a man in a red and blue CUBA skinsuit whipped past me as I faffed in the car-park - so I set off in pursuit. I first introduced myself to Tom and Rafael in the following white van before drawing up alongside the slender rider up the road. He initially seemed a bit non-plussed by me and my idiot Spanish, but we spelled about tentatively down the A77 into the usual headwind. We burlyed round at the roundabout south of Eaglesham then relaxed a little and found time to check each other out a bit before hitting the open road back north with ever increasing speed and enthusiasm. This was going to be fun! One or other of us initiated what was to become a signature of our rides on this circuit, a mighty holler in the echoey bridge under the motorway, before giving it all we had on the drag up to the ‘finish’ line. Damian was proving himself to be a great rider and excellent company. Language barrier be damned – we had the communication of 2 riders on the road and that was easily enough.

So on we went, day after day, rain or shine. For 2 weeks we met up and smashed it on the lanes and braes according to coach Rafael's chuckled demands out the window of the van. “Venga, venga!” “mas rapido!” etc. etc. 

So some days it was 80kms of A77, mostly ridden at threshold, whilst other days we hit the Stewarton circuit as used by the Arthur Campbell RR, doing the loop 3 times before adding the extra leg down towards Kilmaurs and back through Fenwick making for 100kms at race pace. The Cubans referred to this circuit as having ondulaciones – lumpy we might say. The hills he hit at a steady and predictable 550 watts - these powerful, smooth, seated efforts are a speciality of his and mighty impressive.

Of course given his physique he doesn’t really have an option in this, he cannot get out of the saddle more than a few milimetres, but he has developed a rock solid, central core that always positions his legs in perfect alignment allowing him an efficient and breathtaking technique on the road which has to be seen to be believed.

He carries no extra weight and has impressive souplesse, spins a high cadence and has a great position to the wind – truly he is a wonderful sight to behold in full flight.

This man set his mind to being a bike racer 20 years ago and has learned how to deal with anything and everything that might come his way. I saw him observe, calculate and then quickly master the Ayrshire lanes, the sudden storms, the whipping crosswinds, the draggy moor roads, sudden farm traffic – whatever came our way, he rode through it, safe and efficient. It was a real privilege to ride with him.

On the road he rides a Fuji with Di2 gearing and Dura Ace kit, sucking his juice up through tubes from his bottles. There is a nice touch of the Caribbean here in the shape of a small wooden block attached to the stem, which keeps the tubes separated. His trademark bar set-up sees the ergo shaped bars turned upside down, allowing him good access to gears and brakes. He contains the end of the bars when steering and tucks his short arms within the bars when he’s tucked. 50mm Dura Ace clinchers. Skinsuit, no socks, no glasses. 

On the track he’s riding a carbon Argon 18 with Mavic 5 spoke and Comete disc. He has a relatively new bar set-up and position on the track which seems to be working out well for him. Standings starts look to be incredibly tough given his lack of forearms to brace off but he practices, experiments and has nailed it as best he can.

You can follow Damian and the rest of the Cuban teams progress in the Paralympic Games here,

http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/country/cuba/athletescomptoday/index.html 

I met some of them during their time in Glasgow and found them super cool and relaxed whilst clearly fully focussed on the job in hand. 

You can, and I recommend that you do, watch Damian racing his bikes live on Channel 4 at the following times:

Fri 31^st Aug         14:00      Men's Individual C4-5  1km Time Trial

Sat 1^st Sept         10:25      Men’s Individual C4     4km Pursuit

Wed 5^th Sept       10:30      Men's Individual C 4    Road TT

Thur 6^th Sept       10:30      Men's Individual C 4-5 Road Race

 http://paralympics.channel4.com/video/stream2.html 

Go Team Damian.

Hardcore.

  

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/nyregion/cyclists-embrace-a-handless-cuban-who-wants-to-race.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/damian-lopez-cuba-double-amputee-cyclist_n_1332584.html#s766614

http://www.fujibikes.com/news/details/34

GNCC Lake APR - Balfron 18/03/2012

Traditionally the first race of the year for many and so it was for me. The APR (Australian Pursuit Race) is what we used to call back in the day a handicap event with the seeded riders having to make up ground on the groups ahead. This years event had given us in the scratch group a handicap of six minutes on the first bunch of riders, although it felt like a lot longer to me as the varying groups disappeared down the road from the lay by just East of Buchlyvie.

The pre race banter soon disappeared as, in glorious sunshine and with the tailwind start our group settled quickly into it’s work and it was quick with three Dooley’s, Paul Rennie, Martin Lonie and Greg Brown sitting together like a black clad express train followed by Peter Murdoch, Fin Young, Craig Adams and the rest of us hanging in there as the speed hit well over 55kph in places we hurtled towards the Kippen roundabout which was bedecked with more Day-Glo than a Farnesse Vini jersey. Through the turn and having negotiated the twists on the road to Thornhill the crosswind did little to deter the speed and we caught a glimpse of the group ahead, still working well together we hit the first rise into Thornhill. This threw the rhythm of our group for a while until normal service was resumed with Lonie looking strong (and far too tanned for this time of the year!) obviously benefiting from having had a warm weather training camp and regular visits to Manchester’s track league through the winter, his strength began to tell as gaps appeared as he took the front spelling through hard on the rolling roads towards Port of Menteith and the Lake which gives the event it’s name. His luck however was about to change as a loud pop from his rear wheel could only mean that a spoke had given up the ghost and stopped his progress.

The rest of us ploughed on into the headwind and slowly started to pull in the preceding riders. Up and through Port of Menteith and swiftly down to the Rob Roy Roundabout almost onto the back of the group ahead. As ever Flanders Moss didn’t disappoint, it’s always a crosswind up Flanders, always, and it always hurts. With everyone fighting for shelter in the gutter the catch was made just at the bottom of the drag and the line strung out, making progress to the front somewhat impossible. There was an inevitable lull at the top however which meant that the now forty or so strong peleton was a twitchy place to be, so it was time to move up the line. Just as well because Murdoch and Rennie plus a few others had decided it was time to stretch their legs again. A long fast line developed again including Lonie who had fought back to the pack having obviously had some superb service from the boys at Solid Rock Cycles. I had to get towards the front knowing that there would be some pain dished out and a selection on the climb through Killearn and so it turned out. Murdoch again hit the accelerator and I was glad I could slide through the bunch just about maintaining contact by the top.

The fast descent towards Balfron and the finishing circuit beckoned and I again needed to move through towards the front so in true Cancellara style (I wished) I tried to make up some ground on the descent. It was going swimmingly too, until at about 65kph I hit a huge pothole and heard the bang and hiss of a front wheel flat. Thankfully I held it upright and pulled to the side, where I awaited the Solid Rock Cycles service van out popped Mark with a replacement front but even as he ran towards me I knew the game was up, there was no way I was catching that flying group ahead on my own. Wheel in, I gave it a go until the finish line where it was time to face the fact I was going nowhere fast. So abandon I did.

Still it was a fine workout for the first race of the season and a super day’s weather to boot. Thanks to Alan and the team at the Glasgow Nightingale for another top racing day out and congratulations to Gary Maher from Ayr Roads CC who narrowly pipped Craig Adams of GJS Racing to win the sprint with Dominic Hines VC Edinburgh third.

Local Climbs

An ever growing directory of where local climbs are, what they're known as & what they're like. These are all within club run distance. Map with locations coming soon too...

1) Dukes Pass (North)
2) Dukes Pass (South)
3) Crow Road (North) Coming soon....
4) Crow Road (South) Coming soon....
5) Pipe Track (North) Coming soon....
6) Pipe Track (South) Coming soon....
7) Top of the World (Fintry) Coming soon....
8) Top of the World (Kippen) Coming soon....
9) Top of the World (Arnprior) Coming soon....
10) Carron Valley (Fintry to Reservoir) Coming soon....
11) Tak Ma Doon.. Coming soon....
12) Letter Muir.. Coming soon....
13) Braes of Greenock.. Coming soon....

1) Dukes Pass (North)
The famous climb on the North side of the Dukes Pass steps upwards from Loch Achray in the Trossachs, through the Achray Forest and finishes at it's 3rd summit, before descending towards Aberfoyle. It initally climbs steeply from 100m altitude at Loch Achray, then levels off slightly and even descends before climbing again. The gradients get steep again and after a left hand corner and you can see the climb ahead of you to the right hand side of a steep hill. Once over this and past a viewpoint towards Loch Drunkie in the east, the road descends and turs sharply to the left for the tough final kilometre. You hit one more small summit, then the final one, which has some of the steepest gradients. Those last two summits always feel like the hardest parts of the climb, in reality they probably are. As with most Scottish hills, the average gradient doesn't imply this hills hardness, but it's the steeper sections that cause the pain.
 


Length: 4km
Ave Gradient: 3.9% (includes descents)
Max Gradient: 16%
Height Gain: 155m

2) Dukes Pass (South)
An altogether different climb to the north side. This one starts in Aberfoyle and continues steeply, with barely a break until a false flat section. This initial section includes several hairpins and changing gradients, with one section as steep as 20% for a short length. The road winds past the David Marshall Lodge and through the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, until a final steep section opens up onto the false flat. This is deceptive, as it's still climbing (see profile) and then there's a final push to the top.
Length: 3.9km
Ave Gradient: 5.9%
Max Gradient: 20%
Height Gain: 231m

The 'Sir Chris': The First Look

Our latest club sponsor for 2012, Careth Ltd (a lanscaping, grounds maintenance, fencing & contract cleaning business based near Balfron) invited our chairman & secretary to a visit to the new velodrome being built in Glasgow's east end for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The facility is looking incredible already, even though there's no track in there yet, but based on Manchester, Glasgow's Chris Hoy Velodrome looks like it's going to easily surpass the facility which was built for the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. We didn't really know what to expect, what state it would be in or how much we would see, but what we did see was incredible. The project has been huge, it fantastic to have it in Glasgow and the engineering & construction looks like it's very high spec, it looks like a world class sports venue.

When you arrive in the car park, there's a road circuit which skirts the outside, it's only 1km long and has a hairpin at each end, possibly not ideal for elite riders, but certainly will be well used by youth riders and the lower categories. Should teach vital skills and provide a permanent off road training & roacing facility, hopefully clubs and coaches will see it's value.

Approching the venue, the shear scale of the project hits you, this isn't some normal sports or liesure centre, this a major venue for Commonwealth Games, it carries it well.

 We were shown the arena, which will have a 250m banked running track, which can be lowered on hydraulics to provide a flat surface for a variety of different event, makes that a very large & very adaptable space, exactly the legacy it should be.

Moving onto the thing we were here to see, it's going to be very very good. It almost looks finished, you feel yourself imagining the track sitting in there, you can see exactly where it goes. The seating is there, wrapped in plastic, the judges box, windows looking out onto the track from a future gym, the biggest in Glasgow apparently, so you'll be able to spin-bike and get a taste for moving off something static onto the real thing. Round the walls are accoustic blocks, to ensure David Hoy's voice can be heard properly at the track league without any echo's, all still safe in plastic for now. The scale is incredible, a huge window looks out towards Celtic Park, it feels like a very light space.

May is when it's due to be handed over and the SCHÜRMANN brothers get the boards in, these guys have a fair bit of experience, click HERE to see which velodromes they've built already.

What a venue, what a future our riders are going to have, we can't wait until October, this IS the best venue we're ever going to get as cyclists.

2014 Commonwealth Games
Velodrome Info
Glasgow, London, Manchester velodrome deal.

Huge thanks to Keith at Careth for inviting us along.

Club Calendar (continually updated)

Everything that's ongoing can be accessed here for info for club members.....

• Sunday rides, 9am, usual place.

CLUB TRAINING

• Thursday 29th March, 2012 chain-gangs kick off. Blog post going up nearer the date, with what it involves, the first few weeks will likely be heavily involved in skill teaching in 'wheeling about', so you'll learn things quickly if you've not experienced these before.
• Some Saturday rides planned too, keep an eye on your email for those, will be arranged between those heading out.
• We'll be running a few club confined evening events too during the year, more info once we know the details. 
• Club track day at Meadowbank velodrome in Edinburgh, date to be confirmed.

SPORTIVES & CLUB OPEN EVENTS

• Sunday 15th April: The Scottish Bike Show Loch Lomond Sportive. LINK 
• Sunday 29th April: Club away day. Etape Caledonia trial run, all welcome, shorter routes & nice cafe’s can be found.
• Sunday 13th May: Etape Caledonia. LINK
• Saturday 19th May: Keswick Sportive LINK
• Sunday 20th May: All Day, Vortex Race Team hosts Scottish Road Race Championships in Balfron. HELP REQUIRED!! This is a bigger & better event than last year, so need to get loads of marshalls, convoy drivers,
• Thursday 14th June: Vortex Race Team hosts ‘Midsummer Mountains’ evening triple hill climb. HELP REQUIRED!!

RACING TEAM ACTIVITIES (this will grow & grow once we find out who's riding what.
*See note below for BC/TLI memberships.

• Saturday 3rd March - Eddie Soens Memorial- Aintree Racecourse. Team: Sarah G
• Sunday 18th March - Lake APR Team: TBC (BC Membership required)
• Saturday 24th March - Moniave Wild Hills Team: David P, any other takers??
• Meadowbank Track League, starting on Tuesday nights at the end of April.

 * BC/TLI Memberships, a brief explanation.

• BC (British Cycling) supply memberships & race licences to SC (Scottish Cycling), they are the body who are recognised as the official cycle racing body in the UK by the UCI, who govern international cycle sport. There's a full calendar of events HERE , use the drop downs to filter. For a large amount of these events you'll require a BC Race Silver or Race Gold membership without also having to purchase a racing licence, a Silver or Gold membership also comes with 3rd party insurance if you're on your bike, so well worth having. Details of membership HERE , put your club in as Vortex Race Team if you apply. There's also a number of packages for non racing members HERE . Ask Colin if you want any more info. Our Road Race championships will be run under BC rules.
• TLI plugs the missing gap in UK racing, they offer predominantly age related racing, but have a smaller number of races available locally. The full calendar is available HERE and membership available on the same link. Non TLI members can ride TLI events for an additional £4 surcharge normally, but preference will be given to TLI members if the event is oversubscribed.

Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome – Why all the fuss?

There are a lot of bike riders out there that are wondering what all the fuss about the velodrome is and I’m guessing that the vast majority of them are wondering why? So I’ll try and explain the reasons why I think this facility is going to be the biggest thing that will happen in Scottish Cycling ever. Yes EVER because I’ve absolutely no doubt in my mind that it will revolutionise (pardon the pun) the development of all the cyclists that ride it on a regular basis.

I never really considered the track much as a kid, growing up as I did in deepest darkest Norfolk about two hours from the nearest facility. I did however make the occasional trip to the now defunct Harlow track, I also rode the boards at Leicester and Calshot on a BCF training weekend (more about that some other time). So basically I stuck to what was available to me, the pretty standard fair of youth and junior road races, time trials and the criterium circuits which seemed to be far more plentiful than are available to kids these days. So it was back then in the days of black and white.

It seems ridiculous to me now that I only really got to know the fun that could be had on the banking until the day about three years ago when Mr Bark organised our former club’s track day at Meadowbank, suddenly it all came flooding back I’d forgotten loads but with some expert guidance I was soon up and down the boards as if I’d never been away from them. Don’t get me wrong I’m no six day rider but the experience totally re-invigorated me and planted a seed that has grown over the past couple of years through regular attendances at the Meadowbank track league.

I had never really considered the track as a possibility partly for the reasons outlined before but coming back to the sport after far too long away, the opportunity to ride on a proper velodrome was too good to be missed and after a few trips through to the capital I found it more and more satisfying and once into the groove found myself becoming more competitive. The benefit of riding the track also helped enormously with my road racing. To me there is no co-incidence that I had one of my best seasons on the road having spent time on the boards.

You only have to look at the line up of the guys on the British team in Copenhagen who took Mark Cavendish to the Rainbow jersey the majority of them came through British Cycling's track programme at Manchester and are endurance track riders. The facility in Glasgow is going to be better than Manchester, it has been designed with riders in mind by riders who have spent the vast majority of their cycling lives in velodromes. I haven't even mentioned that the British Track Squad will no doubt use this facility on a regular basis which will no doubt rub off on the youngsters coming through for the future. It is a fact that you will become a better all around bike rider from getting onto a track. I know I have and it can be done in a relatively short time with the right guidance. I urge you to get yourself and/or your kids onto the Sir Chris Hoy at the earliest opportunity and discover the purest form of bike racing there is.

Because, if a 40+ bloke in less than two years can go from virtual novice to medalling in a British Masters Championship there is hope for us all!

The year of 'The Sir Chris'

We were formed with this date in mind, 2012 was always going to be when things started to get very exciting, but things have already been on-the-up since back in early 2010 when all this Vortex chat kicked off.

The opening date for the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow's East End is 1st October 2012,  there's a lot of work to do in between now & that date. Looks like we'll have 2 track coaches fully trained up, an event planned at the track, plus loads of riders will be accredited and ready to ride.

Meadowbank in Edinburgh is still currently Scotland's number one track, a 250m outdoor wooden track seems a mad thing to build, but just look at the champions it's produced with it's incliment weather limitations. It's also vital we keep a venue in Edinburgh, plus another vital venue is Caird Park in Dundee, it's getting resurfaced after some very hard work from some active volunteers, which is what keeps our sport (and all sports at grass roots level) going, the work behind the scenes is often a thankless but vital task. These tracks will complement 'The Sir Chris' as I head it mentioned recently, maybe that'll stick, let's make it stick. Track cycling is about to kick off big time in Scotland. The rumours of a possible indoor track in Inverness are also something to look forward to, that would be incredible if it came off.

Vortex RT has been undergoing some transformations too, we're building and expanding with a very welcome burgeoning sportive section, all of whom will obviously be provided with the opportunity to get some track craft and time on the boards of our old friend Meadowbank, before the comfy indoor velodrome opens.
There will be more on this later, along with some sponsor announcements, then it's hard work until the season opens for our racers & riders, the bid is in for the Scottish Men's & Women's Road Championships with a bigger & better plan than 2011, so we hope to run that again, we'll let you know if it's successful. Roll on 'The Sir Chris'.

Vortex RT