Today’s canine intervention on the Tour (the one that brough Gilbert and Menchov down), had me thinking of other four-legged interlopers. I came across this little gem from Criterium International in 1997.
And since Gilbert did look like he wanted to take a swipe at the owner, it made me wonder what the action might have looked like – something like this, maybe?
Anyhow, congrats to Cav, it was a great stage win!
I did my first ‘social’ bike ride of the year last weekend, frolicking in sun, daffodils and the onset of picnic weather. My thoughts are thus turning to recipes and route notes, and away from fog and rain, but the misery of English winters hasn’t quite left us yet.
And winter has largely meant X-Biking. I’m a bit of a fair-weather cyclist, truth be told, so my bikes have seen little action over the last few months. X-Biking is a take on spinning, but with moveable handlebars, which means that I can rock along to Bon Jovi whilst pummelling imaginary foes with my arms. Demonstration below (and if it’s good enough for the army, it’s good enough for me…).
It’s more cross-training than cycling, to be honest, but by putting some resistance into the handlebars you not only get to vent any frustrations, but also work out your upper body. All in all, it is thoroughly knackering.
Forgetting one's sunglasses + minus 20 windchill = crimes to fashion
Now to the skiing. I have been nowhere near a bike lately, having returned to snow and minus degrees in Norway, with a copy of Jo Nesbo’s The Leopard under my arm. I was only a few chapters in when I discovered that the murder victim is from Levanger, my home town. Now, believe me, it doesn’t happen often that Levanger is given much mention in the world of fiction, so this was thrilling to say the least - until I got to the following sentence, that is: ‘You can take the girl out of Levanger, but you can’t take Levanger out of the girl’ Is that me, then?
For naturally, the first thing I do when I get back home is to head into the mountains and strap on my skis. This is when I discovered, joy of joys, that I now possess arm muscles. They are rather useful for cross-country skiing, but I have gotten along fairly well without them until now.
I credit X-biking with my new-found advantage, since regular cycling never did much to improve my cross-country abilities. So there you are – miserable English winters are good for something.
Ice and snow in Frolfjellet
The snow has gone (for now), the fireworks are over and 2011 is well and truly upon us. Hope you all had a lovely break and feel ready for the new year!
I spent Christmas in Norway, where I subjected my husband, who comes complete with English sensitivities, to -20°C, 3 hours daylight, aquavit, pig’s feet and more thermal underwear than he ever cares to see again. Every trip outside required 20 minutes preparation, before we stumbled out resembling Michelin men. Clouds permitting, we could watch the sunset before lunch.
Naturally, nobody cycles in such conditions (though life does go on – unlike other places I could mention!), but I did get a cycling fix of sorts by way of two books – The Hungry Cyclist by Tom Kevill Davies and The Man who Cycled the World by Mark Beaumont.
I haven’t had a chance to look at either yet, but the weather is likely to keep me off my bike more than I’d like in the coming weeks, so reviews will be forthcoming. I’m also going to try to post some of the many half-written pieces that have accumulated over the last few months, so expect a long overdue write-up of my Copenhagen trip amongst others.
New Year is all about resolutions and good intentions, after all, and my somewhat suffering blog is the beneficiary of mine.
Happy New Year!
As cycling deals with yet more drugs scandals and the UCI appears to be heading back to the dark ages, I thought it a good time to celebrate Thor Hushovd, who brightened up my cycling day a great deal with his World Championship win. So here goes, ten things you may not have known about the new wearer of the rainbow jersey:
1. He may be the king of cycling now, but he was once known as the king of potatoes to his friends, courtesy of spending every weekend of his youth selling baked potatoes to hung-over party-goers. He and his friend would bake the tatters in his parents basement, trek in to the nearest drinking hotspot and peddle his wares till 3 in the morning. Don’t laugh – he used the profits to buy a Porsche…
2. That Porsche was spotted during a training ride in Italy. Thor climbed off his bike, paid for the car and cycled on. As you do.
3. He’s a year ahead of schedule. Well, at least according to Norwegian pundits, who had high hopes for Copenhagen ’11, but next to none for this year. They are suitably impressed, however, and rank his win as one of the top ten Norwegian sport achievements of all time.
4. He’s known as the ‘God of Thunder’ abroad, but Norwegians found that a bit naff and call him the ‘Ox from Grimstad’, or even the ‘Animal from Grimstad’, instead. As the Norwegian saying goes, ‘beloved child has many names’… (Grimstad is anything but grim, by the way, being a pretty and idyllic coastal town in southern Norway.)
5. His wife celebrated his win from their home in Monaco with the delectable combination of champagne, bacon, eggs – and pancakes. That is also what she intends to serve him when he returns home to his wife and baby daughter.
6. Meanwhile, Thor himself celebrated with kangaroo steak, after which he declared he would be ‘hopping happy’. Good thing he’s good on a bike, since the stand-up career is looking unlikely.
7. Whilst on the subject of food, Thor is partial to mum’s meatballs, to the point where mum and dad Hushovd have followed the Tour de France in their camper van in order to cook for him. Norwegian favourites were on the menu, but Thor’s mum has parked the van in Norway now, and he has to make do with the team chef instead.
8. Thor is popular in the peloton, and is the reason both Lance Armstrong and Andy Schleck have made appearances in the Oslo Grand Prix charity race. He might have regretted that when Schleck proceeded to finish above him this year, but at least he did beat Armstrong the year before.
9. Lance Armstrong is incidentally also an occasional training partner, since Thor lives in Monaco and both are frequently seen climbing hills in and around the south of France.
10. He’s Norwegian. Ok, so maybe you did know that, but apparently it’s the source of his success. As one of 0ur ex-prime ministers claimed, in a perfectly dead-pan way, ’it’s typical Norwegian to be best’. Hmmm.
