Bike - (Sky channel 464)

It is just before midnight, the Saturday before Christmas and I am sitting here in semi-rural Mid-Ulster, while Ugo de Rosa is on my television talking about the days of Merckx and Motta. In a few minutes a programme about cycling and surfing in New Zealand will replace the founder of the de Rosa brand and an hour after that, coverage of a four stage MTB race will fill my screen. This has been a revelation since my late night viewing in the (road) off season normally focuses on episodes of Family Guy repeated for the 90th time that month and BBC Four documentaries but an accidental discovery at work has changed things.

I happened to be on the Cycling Weekly website watching a video on the calories in various types of alcohol for an initiative I am doing as part of my job (it is a minor talent I have managing to shoehorn cycling in everywhere!) when I spotted a link to another story about a cycling channel being launched. Not expecting much, I clicked into the story, assuming you would have to pay extra for whatever they were offering. I made a quick note-  "464" - on the back of my hand and got back to doing what I was being paid to do.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised to see the channel "Bike" was there and broadcasting. Now I have an embarrassing thing to admit. I really detest Murdoch, his media outlets and the power he exerts in this world but Sky was the only option we had for TV and Internet when we moved into our house (note the semi-rural description at the start) so I have to hold my nose until a better option comes along- but I digress.

I first checked to see if this was actually 24 hour programming- even my favourite channel BBC4 only starts at 7pm and it has a wider scope than any cycling specific offering. But yes-any time day or night, flick on to 464 and there will be someone on two wheels in some manner or other. Of course it is all well and good putting our programming on a constant basis- but is any of it worth watching?

It is early days but it seems that all manner of velocists are catered for. "Cycling with Filippa" for example is based on a Swedish TV presenter who lives in Italy following cyclo-tourist trails and stopping off at various museums, factories etc. The bike in this regard is more a conveyance than the star, but I must say I am now better informed as to the processes behind how Italians make pipe organs for churches and cathedrals. It is kind of Wish You Were Here without an orange glow emanating from the presenter. However other shows have included ex-pros taking on some iconic climbs, documentaries from bike manufacturers such as North Shore, coverage of the Race Around Ireland and more. There are also the cheaply shot MTB shows which seem more made for You Tube than TV viewing- the ones where the same jumps and sections are shown from about twenty different angles, quick cuts and some inoffensive faux-metal music in the background- basically giving credence to Frank Lloyd Wright's "chewing gum for the eyes" comment. Yeah, some of the skills are impressive but this format is now so common it is almost a parody of itself- at least the likes of Danny MacAskill and ,previously, Martyn Ashton try to move it on a bit.

Overall the channel package does have a touch of the homemade about it-some of the dubbing (especially in the already mentioned "Cycling With Filippa") brings up memories of how 1990s cult Channel 4 show Eurotrash used to do it. But it kind of feels good not to be so polished- more a Conti team than World Tour in terms of production and the simple fact is we now have bikes on screen. Not just the few weeks in the summer where ITV shows "The Cycle Show" but any time we want. Will Bike be showing races live- especially those like Tro Bro Leon that don't get the coverage of other races? I don't know but would love to see that happening-it could help it really establish itself as the go to spot for cyclists, and the advertisers would then follow- Rapha already have a number of adverts running on the channel- will we soon be seeing Nibali and Basso cooking up Sidi shoes or having that music from the Tour d' Azerbaidjan running through our heads for the rest of the day?

Annual decision time

It's licence renewal time again, and as ever, I battle with the same decision. Do I stick with my Cycling Ireland leisure licence or go for the Limited Competition one? While navigating a narrow stairwell at work the other day, I realised that the two folks in walking front of me took up the same amount of space as I did on my own, so it is safe to say I won't be dancing up the hills dropping all and sundry anytime soon. My plans to use my involuntary break from work for a month and a half (involuntary since I was actually made redundant) to get the kms up and kgs down were scuppered by actually having to use the time to look for a job and go for interviews. 5 interviews later, I had found gainful employment again but my plan to shift weight only worked in as so much I shifted the weight from the inside of sweet wrappers on to my belly.

Each year I think going for the competition licence will inspire me to get my act together but then reality hits and I click on the Leisure option. This year I had gone further and even selected LC but was then faced with deciding if I was Elite or Masters- neither of which sum up my unique style on the bike (turning 40 next year complicates things further). So leisure it was again. However the one major factor that shaped my decision was the fact I actually lack any competitiveness. I obviously enjoy watching racing but I simply don't have the desire to prove myself against others-whether due to a deep down recognition that I would get my backside handed to me so there is no point in trying, or maybe I just don't feel a gap in my life that competition would fill.  On the positive side of things, it does mean my club can have me as a marshal at all the races we run, ensuring at least one of the flag waving stewards at a junction won't be there under duress and being grumpy because they aren't getting to race.

About This Blog and Blogger...

The blog…

Yep- another cycling blog! No, I can’t promise beautiful photos capturing the mythical and historical essence of the Grand Tours or Classics. No, I can’t promise the insightful, forensically analytical approach of the likes of the peerless INRNG or reach the literary heights our sport inspired wordsmiths such as Jean Bobet or Tim Krabbé to achieve. No, I can’t promise to be the first with the breaking news in all things velo related. No, I can’t promise astute and detailed technical breakdowns in regards the latest technological breakthroughs. So then, what on Merckx’s green earth is the point of this offering?
Simply put- it is where I record things for my own personal use. I was just reading an article summarising the highs and lows, as well as the results, of the past 2015 season and it annoyed me how many great developments that enthralled or appalled me through the year had found themselves relegated to the deepest, darkest recesses of my brain, needing some kind of stimuli to bring to the fore. Basically, this blog is a testament to the fact my memory is, along with my body, approaching the outskirts of middle age.
I don’t actually expect that many people to visit here anyway (and even fewer to stay!) so please allow me to indulge myself-it is basically the 21st century version of me talking to myself in public.

The blogger…

Yep- another male in his (very) late 30s waxing lyrical about the greatest sport in the world. To be fair though, I was very much aware that there was a bit of cycling that happened before Bradley Wiggins and even Lance Armstrong came around. I was lucky enough to be around just as Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche were making history. In fact I can pinpoint the very moment I realised cycling was my sport:

It was Sunday 26th July, 1987. I had just turned 11 a few days before and, unusually in my house, the TV was turned to Channel 4 specifically for a sporting event.  Like many houses on the island of Ireland we were watching the peloton hitting the Champs Elysees and among the mass of colours, one stood out clearly for us- the yellow of the jersey on the back of Stephen Roche. While residents of most other nations were focussing on the sprint for stage glory, we were more concerned with Roche making it over the line safely, which he did. The whole sense of occasion, the spectacle, the speed, the skill… right away I knew my allegiance to any form of ball sport (previously forcibly hoisted on me by the simple fact of growing up a young male) had been but a temporary dalliance- cycling was where it was at. Even the appearance of serial opportunist and professional gabshite Charlie Haughey on the podium with Roche didn’t detract from the event I was watching.

However exposure to my new sport was limited in a pre-internet and  pre-financial independence (well independent of my parents finances) age. Growing up in a semi-rural area of the north of Ireland where GAA, soccer and rugby ruled the roost as far as sports go ,meant accessing information on my chosen métier was next to impossible. I had no control of the television, and the 30 minute highlights Channel 4 showed during the Tour de France clashed with the local news (and growing up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland meant watching the news was sacrosanct). There was nothing in any of the newspapers brought home and the cycling magazines at the time were out of my price range. However I was still keen and, while the history books show that the 1988 Tour was won by Pedro Delgado and Roche was out injured, actually I won it, beating Roche in a sprint on my BMX. (The annals also fail to record that the finish had been moved from the Champs Elysees to the electricity pole in the middle of my housing estate.)

I do tweet under the name @OtisBragg and while a lot of my 140 character mini-masterpieces do deal with all things related to cycling, please note that there will be a lot of politics and other stuff there too.