Spin Cycle Magazine

Spin CYCLE MAGAZINE

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ISSUE 001

SPIN

Spin

// EDITORIAL

Editor James Maloney editorial@spincyclemag.com

CYCLE MAGAZINE

Managing Editor Dan Kenyon dan@dankenyon.com

3 Welcome to the velodrome

Le Team Chris Keller-Jackson, Chris White, John Bilsborrow, Louise Mullagh.

A look at Huyton’s new £1.4m outdoor track

This issue’s thanks go to: Helen Gibbons, Johnny McEvoy, Mark McNally, Craig Middleton, Liverpool Post & Echo (in particular the photo dept & Chris Walker) and everyone else who encouraged us with this project. A big, sincere thanks to you all.

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www.spincyclemag.com

Killer hill

22

Café culture

29

Clubbing scene

34

Diamond geezer

40

Making my own way

45

Book review

48

Kirkby CC Supplement

The birth of Pâtisserie Cyclisme with creator Louise Mullagh

// LEGAL STUFF

© 2012

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Time to shift into the bottom gear ready for the first of our local ‘Killer Hills’ Shaley Brow

@ SpinCycleMag

Copyright remains with the Publishers. No part of this journal may be copied or reproduced without the written consent of both the publisher and the contributor.

The Wheel Maker

Interview with master wheelbuilder and local legend Pete Matthews

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In relation to any medical queries, the advice given is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner and we strongly advise all readers with health problems to consult a doctor.

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We catch up with one of Merseyside’s newest clubs, Palefish Exclusive interview with Onix Bikes’ founder, Craig Middleton Junior rider Josh Townson reflects on his highs and lows of the season

Return of the McEvoy Page 25

Find out all about Tyler Hamilton’s book, The Secret Race

Photo special of Kirkby CC’s glory days

Cover photo by: Dan Kenyon, The Wheel Maker: Pete Matthews

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WELCOME TO THE VELODROME Words & Photography by James Maloney

Velodrome

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One thing that does stand out above all else was the laughter and good times had by all involved with the track league and Kirkby Cycling Club

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W

HEN Kirkby Stadium's outdoor track was torn down more than five years ago, there was an outcry from the region's cycling fraternity who felt that a piece of history had been lost forever.

After all, the 485-metre asphalt track had nurtured the talents of many keen cyclists for nearly half a century and, in its heyday, hosted a renowned Wednesday night track league that produced many of this country’s champion racers, including the likes of Chris Boardman.

Boardman even used the outdoor arena to test ride his ground-breaking Lotus Type 108 Olympic Pursuit bike, which he rode in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to win Britain’s first cycling gold medal in 72 years.

Built at a cost of £250,000 and opened

by the Prime Minister, Mr Harold Wilson, in 1964, the construction of Kirkby stadium was controversial to say the least with those against the project insisting it would be a “white elephant” and a “waste of public money”.

Embarrassingly an outdoor dry skislope was later built the wrong way round and then soon pulled down to make way for the M57 Motorway.

Despite the stadium's mixed beginnings, there was great uproar among nearby cycling clubs when it was left to fall in such a sorry state of repairs that the bulldozers had to be called in one August morning back in 2007.

Ken Matthews, chairman of Kirkby Cycling Club, was quoted in the Liverpool Echo at the time as saying: “We are losing a real piece of history.”

Indeed, ask anyone who ever rode on

the track and they will be able to reel off at least a dozen stories – everything from kids hitting golf balls into the bunch to fire crews running across the track during races to douse the flames of athletic equipment being set alight by yet more unruly youngsters.

One thing that does stand out above all else was the laughter and good times had by all involved with the track league and Kirkby CC, who boasted some of the big names of the day such as Doug Dailey, as well as visits from the likes of Reg Harris and Dave Lloyd, who were both roped into cutting the ribbon on the very same newly-resurfaced track a few months apart.

Many believed the stadium would never be replaced - nor would the atmosphere of those Wednesday nights from long ago ever make a comeback in the same www.spincyclemag.com

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Like a cliché phoenix from the flames, Knowsley has finally replaced the heart of its cycling community with a new £1.4m outdoor velodrome – albeit based a couple of miles down the motorway in Huyton 5

Velodrome

vein as the riders who graced its surface, surging from out of the pack to take the race on the finishing line.

Doreen Mallinson, who was the track league’s secretary, said: “It was a very pleasant, if sad, occasion.

People who had been involved with the track through the years came. Everybody used to love going to Kirkby. It was a real family track and there were some great rides there.”

But like a cliché phoenix from the flames, Knowsley has finally replaced the heart of its cycling community with a new £1.4m outdoor velodrome – albeit based a couple of miles down the motorway at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park in Longview Drive, Huyton.

Luckily, that sense of history was not lost on the powers-that-be at Knowsley Council and a great deal of consultation with Liverpool Century, Prescot Eagles and Knowsley BMX Club went into the design of the new facility under the guidance of British Cycling.

Phil Garton-Pope, track coach at Liverpool Century, said: “You've got to credit Knowsley for thinking along those lines [bringing the track back to the area after the closure of the track at Kirkby in 2007] and including this in their leisure strategy.”

There is even a touch of the Wiggo-effect put into the design of the facility thanks to non-other than Bradley's father-in-law, Dave Cockram, who is national facilities officer at British Cycling.

Dave, who hinted his Tour de France winning son-inlaw might just pop down and try it out one afternoon, said: “Planning for this started nine years ago. I did design the tracks but it was a team effort. We like coming to Knowsley and the council have certainly delivered.

“The cross-fertilisation of track cycling and BMX is unique to the UK and we wanted to have a communal atmosphere with one strong cycling club instead of two separate ones.”

"British Cycling is very pleased with the new facility, and as well as the velodrome, a much needed national standard BMX track is available for Knowsley and the wider Merseyside and West Lancashire Region.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Knowsley Council and partners over the last five years to make the project a reality, and we look forward to developing a programme of cycling activity that will benefit the local community.”

Ensuring there was a link between the past and present at the official opening was one of the old Kirkby track’s www.spincyclemag.com

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former stars, Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman, who was the guest of honour at the Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park on September 27.

Boardman, who met some of the centre’s users and unveiled a plaque to officially mark the occasion, said: “This is a really fantastic facility, not just for Knowsley but for the whole region. To have a world class velodrome here in the North West can only be a great boost for the sport of cycling.

“Having looked around the facility, you cannot fail to be inspired by it – and I am sure a whole generation of cyclists in this region will be eager to get on the track and get racing.”

More than 10,000 users are expected to visit the centre every year, which will host a range of local, regional and national events, as well as providing coaching, training and competition opportunities for top performing athletes and beginners thanks to – here is the boring bit – funding from NHS Knowsley, Sport England and British Cycling.

Brian Farrington, from Prescot Eagles, said: “Our club and all keen cyclists on Merseyside are delighted with this new facility. It is a wonderful addition to cycling and a great amenity for the area that can be put to good use for many years to come”.

With track bikes available for hire and training for track accreditation, the velodrome coaching programme will start in spring 2013, while the BMX track already has open sessions for riders with appropriate equipment.

Knowsley BMX Club will use the track for Tuesday night sessions for everyone from beginners to national champions like father and son team Pete and Jake Power, from Walton.

Pete said: “It’s a fantastic track and for it to be so close is a bonus. Jake will still have to travel up to Manchester for some of his training with British Cycling, but to have something like this so close to home will definitely save on petrol.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool Century were the first road cycling club to christen the new velodrome and have already started to host weekly track nights every Wednesday in the same tradition as the old stadium at Kirkby.

Phil added: “For the last three or four years, we have been working with Knowsley Council – ever since the idea for the outdoor velodrome was first talked about.

“We have been working with them under a kind of umbrella basis, a sort of Knowsley Cycling 7

Velodrome

More than 10,000 users are expected to visit the centre every year, which will host a range of local, regional and national events, as well as providing coaching, training and competition opportunities for top performing athletes and beginners www.spincyclemag.com

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Velodrome

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Development Group, for at least two-and-a-half tears, steering towards when the velodrome would be built.

“The hope is that it will produce a hub for cycling for the club, where all our members will have a place to go and take advantage of the fantastic cycling facilities for the track, but it will also act as a place for members to meet up, swap stories, ideas and bring the club together more.

“In the long term, the facility provides a safe and controlled environment to train and develop people in the right direction. The size of the facility means that we're not just limited to track bikes. Although it does offer that, it can also be used as a controlled environment, so it's not just limited to track.

“We have run four of five sessions on the track so far and are averaging 25-27 riders per night. They’re going really well and we have got a good core set of riders, who seem to be having a great time. The feedback from them is great and they keep turning up.

“Being able to have access to a facility like this gives us an area where we can coach people safely and pass on the experience of our successful riders to new cyclists. You just cannot do that safely on the road, which means a facility like this is great.

“We have the likes of Tommy Murphy, who is one of the best time-trialists in the North West. He is coaching with myself now, so to be able to pass on that knowledge in a controlled environment, where you're able to stop people and talk to them, is just priceless.

“The velodrome itself, when they finalise the hub buildings and connect that in with the track, will be an awesome facility. It's probably a better facility than, say a 200m velodrome, because it opens itself up to all other aspects.

“With it being a bit larger and not having as steeper banking, it opens itself up for recreational riders to be able to use it as a development or training facility and gives the track a much broader appeal.

“Merseyside is great for cycling at the minute. Not only have you got ourself and Prescot Eagles based at this fantastic new facility, you've also got the likes of Liverpool Mercury based at their track in Litherland. It's great news for the three of the main clubs in Liverpool.

Knowsley is a nice place to be, as well. We are already finding that there is a nice atmosphere developing round the track and it's a genuinely nice place to spend time.”

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BMX and Velodrome Facility contact details: getactiveteam@knowsley.gov.uk or 0151 443 2200

Title

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THE WHEEL MAKER Words & Photography by Dan Kenyon

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SPIN

N THE good old days, wheels were as personal as a tailored suit. You bought them made on site at the shop you bought your bike from and, if you raced, you had a pair of race wheels made by the local expert.

Then in the late 90s, factory built wheels took over with their integrated spokes, hubs and rims and the art of building and truing wheels started to die out.

Luckily, wheel building never completely disappeared.

It was an craft still valued by some pros and dedicated amateur racers and, now with the boom in road cycling, good wheel builders are celebrating a renaissance as more riders realise that they need the personal touch - someone who can service their wheels each season and run quick repairs without them having to send the wheel away.

Pete Matthews is based in North Liverpool and is well-known as a master wheel builder. A racing legend in the North West, Pete has won more than 300 races in a 52 year amateur career and 20 national titles - including Amateur National Road Race Champion in 1968.

He still races and, along with his son Lee - no slouch either in the racing stakes - the duo have increased production of bespoke hand-built wheels and recently designed a new range of frames through Pete's Italian company Pianni - a venture he started in the late 70s.

One autumn afternoon , we went to visit Pete in the workshop in the North Liverpool suburb of Waterloo and enjoyed drinking a nice mug of tea as he built a wheel and listened to his views on spokes, rims, hubs and frames.

DK: So Pete. Why did you start wheel building?

PM: It was a necessity. I've always done my own repairs. I started building my own bikes at the age of 14. Almost as soon as I started racing in 1960, I had to start building my own wheels as I was having problems with local shop bought wheels. 'Anybody can build a wheel' was the theory, wasn't it? And they just had 'anybody' building them. Some of the shop owners could build frames - and wheels - but they employed jack-of-all-trades who did repairs on bread and butter bikes and would be expected to build a pair of wheels for a racing guy - which needed a craftsman. I mean you wouldn't let these guys lose 11

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The Wheel Maker

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I couldn't get wheels fixed on a Saturday night down a shop, so I learnt to do it myself for Sunday morning racing. I made a few mistakes, but there you go. You learnt.

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with a welding torch to build a frame - so why let them lose on building wheels for guys competing at international level?

DK: What was available in the early 1960s wheel-wise?

PM: It was always pretty restricted in terms of hubs and rims. The serious racing bike shops did Campagnolo hubs with Fiamme rims and 99% of people used those. They were 36 spoke pairs or 32/40 pairs. Wheels did go as low as 28 spoke wheels - but they were seen as time trial wheels.

They wouldn't stay true for jumping about in races. I was only a junior and eight-stone soaking wet. I thought 'I can get away with a pair of 28's’, so I ordered them. I remember riding a junior race on Holcombe and was in the break, came around a corner, kicked, and the back wheel disintegrated. One of the guys in the break, Dave Rostrum, who I'm still good mates with now after 50 years, said someone in the break shouted “Matthew's got trouble” and the whole break put the hammer down and left me. Out on the moors

in the rain. That was the end of my 28’s.

DK: So that's when you taught yourself?

PM: Well, I couldn't get wheels fixed on a Saturday night down a shop, so I learnt to do it myself for Sunday morning racing. I made a few mistakes, but there you go. You learnt. You were away racing all the time - down south, in Ireland and such like - so it gave you confidence if you could repair your own wheels and true them up. I became sort of a team mechanic, which set me in good stead when I set up the shop.

DK: Then you went to work at Harry Quinn's shop in Everton Valley?

PM: That was in 1966. I learnt a lot from Harry.

He taught me about fork and frame building and I started experimenting with 28 spoke wheels.

People would say ‘You can't use those for racing’ but the ones that I made were turning out fine even for big guys - racing and everything. But as I couldn't convince everyone, I went further and started making 24 spokes wheels as well. 24 spoke wheels were the lowest spoke count www.spincyclemag.com

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The Wheel Maker

production wheels in those days - only be used for time trial and the track . I wanted to explode the myth that you couldn't use 24 spoke wheels and below for racing. The only way to do that was to build a pair. It was trail-anderror in one respect, as everyone wanted light alloy spoke nipples. These would sometimes break after three or four years, but people would bring the wheels back to be rebuilt and say they had still run true with a spoke gone, so I knew that I was on the right track. I rebuilt using brass nipples and off they went.

DK: Was the reduction in spokes you were aiming for just to decrease the weight?

PM: For weight and for aerodynamics. I came up with my own bladed spokes as well. A friend at an engineering company made a jig and I used to go over to the factory and make my own bladed spokes. We made wheels bladed spokes for Sean Yates and Tony Doyle, who were riding the individual pursuit in the 1980 Olympic Games.

No-one else in the country had them and only the East Germans and the Russians had them for the games.

DK: How did the 18 spoke wheels come about?

PM: I'd taken over my own shop from Jim Soens in 1972.

I was already building 24's at this point and I had a few 18 hole rims made - just for the front. They were radials but you couldn't have a radial back wheel, so I thought ‘Right we'll have to have 16/20's’. I used 32 hole front hubs and rims and laced every other hole to make a 16spoked front wheel. I then made a 20 spoke back wheel using 40 hole hubs and rims on the back wheel. I built one of each and sent them off to Gerald Donovan at the Raleigh Specialist Division at Ilkeston and said ‘test them to destruction’. They had a machine that was basically a motorised barrel with great big cobble stones on the outside every 10 cm. They would run the wheel on that until it broke. Gerald came back to me and said ‘the wheels lasted an hour’ - and I said ‘that'll do for me’. It was like the wheel doing four Paris Roubaix's. What was really encouraging was that Graham told me the rim had broken where there wasn't a spoke supporting a hole, so I knew then that we could invest in 16 and 20 hole rims and they would be strong enough for racing. The rest is history.

DK: What about the hubs?

PM: The first company to build me 16, 18 and 20 hole hubs was Royce. I met the people from Royce in Milan in 1979 when I started the Pianni company up. Royce were involved with John Woodburn who was going for the Lands End - John O'Groats time record. I built some www.spincyclemag.com

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light wheels for John - who was reluctant to use even 24's at first. He was a cautious fella and if I'd offered him anything less he'd have had a coronary.

But he broke the record using 20 hole wheels with 23mm rims and was very happy with them.

DK: And you built some wheels for Robert Millar as well?

PM: We were racing in the Isle of Man in our respective races and he asked me to build some especially light wheels for climbing in the Tour. He used my wheels in the late 1980s until he retired. It led to commissions from other riders like Sean Yates, Sid Barras and, more recently, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Hutchinson and Wendy Houvenaghel. I'm still in touch now and again with Robert. He rides motorbikes these days. He doesn't like to be bothered but apparently he was watching some of the Tour of Britain on route this year. No-one noticed as he wears a full face helmet so he's in disguise.

DK: What's changed in wheel building since you started?

PM: Lots, but the main principles and benefits of bespoke wheels remain. I make strong, light and easily repairable wheels. In the old days, any steel frame would take any weight. These days, with tighter tolerances, lighter metals and lug-less welds, more breaks are happening. Wheels are the same.

Some of those carbon-spoked, carbon-rimmed wheels are a small fortune to repair - if you can repair them at all. There always been a fixation with equipment weight, but it's become silly in recent years. I have guys coming to me for wheels saying ‘can you knock 50gms off them to match these production wheels that are £300 dearer’. These are sportive guys who could do with losing a stone or two, so it doesn't make sense to me. I have a pair of carbon rims with razor spokes and I've snapped a couple of spokes myself - and I weigh nine stone.

It's to do with both the spokes and rims being very rigid, so something has to give. It's all about compliance.

DK: How does your wheel building service work.

Is there a set range to choose from?

PM: It's totally bespoke. I take height and weight into consideration and also what tyres are to be used and we then have a chat about what the wheels are going to be used for: touring; TT; road racing; 16

The Wheel Maker

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The Wheel Maker

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general training; hill climb; track; whatever. Age is a factor as well. I advise from there. Lee and I do bladed spokes, 16-32 spoke wheels, different colours. We still use Royce hubs and, with the fashion for black hubs these days, plenty of people seem to like the shiny Royce hubs better.

We also have some carbon frames coming out of Italy now under my Pianni label, which can be built up with wheels to match. We are looking at making titanium frames in the future as well.

DK: Does the frame material make difference 17

in wheel building?

PM: No. It's the angles, geometry, and the forks that make a bike - not the material. I won one of my nationals on a titanium bike. Over the years I've ridden: 531; 631; 753; 853; titanium, alloy, carbon; alloy with carbon front and back. I can't tell the difference. I can tell the difference if the tyre pressure is different or if it's a stiffer wheel for racing, but these people who write in magazines, I marvel at the adjectives they concoct. There's only so many adjectives you

can use to describe a bike.

DK: They say things like "The high tensile rear end vibration is stronger than the front.." How do they measure that - through their bum cheeks?

PM: [Laughs] It's cobblers. I've read some absolute crap. They're test riding a frame and saying ‘oh this bike is very responsive but very stiff’. But the bike in the photo has a radial 16spoke front wheel - so rigid it's shaking the fillings out of their teeth. They're discussing the

ride as if it's the frame that's giving them the feeling.

DK: So can I have a pair of those nice blue rims with Royce hubs 18/24 for free?

PM: No. But you can have a free cup of tea.

Pete and Lee Matthews can be reached at 0151 924 9311. Prices and wheels can be found at www.petematthews.com The film: Road Racer - The Pete Matthews Story by Velocipede Films comes out in 2013.

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SPIN CYCLE MAGAZINE PRESENTS

A Hammer Bottom Gear Production of...

KILLER HILL!

Killer hill

SPIN

No#1: Shaley Brow DISTANCE: 1.0miles AVG GRADE: 6.7% MAX GRADE: 28.6% LOWEST ELEV: 252ft HIGHEST ELEV: 357ft.

POPULARITY: Ridden 1,298 times by 259 people

I still don't mention to 'the club' that I climb Shaley Brow on a regular basis. It's as disrespectful to club tradition as shouting 'MacBeth' in Dame Judi's Dench's ear

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I

HAD joined 'the club' the year before - all bright legged and ready to work and learn. Cold eyes squinted from under £120 helmets, as my new clubmates assessed me and my bike.

It was like being Billy Crystal at the beginning of City Slickers - facing a silent group of thin-lipped Jack Palance's of the road.

If a gobbet of chewing baccy had hit my front tyre, I wouldn't have been surprised. Never mind, they kindly let me tag along.

Soon, the hills and vales of Lancashire were revealed in all their glory to my eager wheels.

I'd lived in London, but the mighty peaks of Hertfordshire and er...Norfolk on the weekends weren't the same as Lancashire.

We went off for 60-miles each week, always battering the last 10 miles. It was a shock and took me a month to keep up. Then another month to both keep up and still have enough breath left to talk to them.

Not that they were making conversation. This was, after all, a northern cycle club - no reason for bonhomie and soft southern chatter.

Summer arrived and we went further afield. Even tackling some distant climbs - but then the club went back to puttering over the smaller hills when the clocks went back.

After a year, I realised there was something missing. Where was the killer hill in the local area? The nasty sharp shock. Maybe it didn't exist, as surely these grizzled vets would have shown it to

me by now?

Quite often on rides with long established clubs, you'll pass what looks like an agreeable lane and ask "Why do we never go down there?"

Sometimes it's because it's muddy in winter or sandy in summer - maybe it meets a main road - then other times it's because "no one's been down there since 1980".

Little did I realise each week that we were swerving a hidden hill sat slap bang in the middle of club territory, which - oddly none of them ever ventured close to and never, ever mentioned.

One Sunday, plodding along in the pack and wondering which steady climb we'd be pootling up that day, I asked the question.

There was a faint whisper from an old club regular riding alongside me: "It's Shaley you need..."

Maybe I'd mis-heard.

"Shakey? What's that denim clad 1980s crooner have to do with cycling?"

"No. S-H-A-L-E-Y. Shaley Brow," spat The Old Timer, glancing around in fear. We were travelling in noisy motor traffic for a 100 yards. None of the surrounding riders had heard us.

This where we cue the Morgan Freeman voice. Full of gravitas and weary acceptance of fate

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Local pro riders Johnny McEvoy, left, and Mark McNally make their way up Shaley Brow near Billinge, St Helens 20

Killer hill

How I wish now that I hadn't heard that Old Timer's words...How I wish my winter training rides and my summer Sundays hadn't been blighted by the knowledge shared with me that golden sunlit afternoon in October 2007.

But it was too late. The old timer had suffered, been almost broken by his battle with a beast and now, in time honoured tradition, he was passing on the suffering to a new generation.

I took in his secret directions and the next week on a quiet afternoon I set out alone to seek...gulp...Shaley Brow [Cue crash of lightning].

From a distance of a mile, I could see no problems. Shaley Brow sits between Rainford and Up Holland, a modest looking hillock covered with trees with a couple of antennas on top and a golf course.

Now, we all know antennas are never a good sign - but a golf course? If those superb athletes, those giants of the swing and putt, could get up there with clubs and dinky bags on wheels - surely I could too?

The approach road from Rainford takes you up a very gradual incline and past a lovely poplar lined drive on your right before turning your thoughts to those misty France rural roads you see in posters.

Around a couple of corners, there's a nice stone house on the left with white balls on gate posts. If, like me, you keep a record of personal best times, this is the time to zero the stopwatch and start the clock ticking. You can still ride the big ring here, but let me warn you, getting out of the saddle to make up time would be foolish.

Past more houses on your left, usually a sheep or two smirking on the right, and it's already time to mimic a steady seated Cavendish pace right now - not under any circumstances attempt the 'dancing Froomedog'.

You come around a gentle right hander, see the golf club entrance ahead 100 yards on your right and then realise that the road past the golf club has been closed. Obviously shut by some stupid highways department with what looks to be...How odd is that? A vertical tarmac wall.

"Why on earth would they Tarmac a wall?" you think. Then you realise, as you get nearer and the perspective shifts, it's not a wall but the road itself shooting up through the trees.

It's worth keeping quiet with anyone who hasn't done Shaley just to see their face when they see what I've just described. Cue confusion followed by realisation and then followed by a whimper - all in half a second. There's a sign saying 14%, but that's the average not the maximum and it's not a long hill so the pressure is on.

If you haven't engaged bottom cog by the time you reach the golf club driveway, then a nasty crunching of gears will ensue. www.spincyclemag.com

Killer hill

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I'm surprised the residents of the house just at that point in the road haven't installed double glazing to block out the constant noise of grinding cogs - it's like the re-christened 'F**king Hell' Corner at the bottom of the Black Hill out at Pendle.

At this point, do not attempt to retain any dignity by leaving the old ace up the sleeve. Believe me - showboating with a gear to spare is not the best way to introduce yourself to Shaley. The hill will stir from slumber, clock a spare gear as first timer impudence and crush you down into the wretched bottom cog anyway. The good news is that the surface is smooth and the climb is steady up and around the first bend then on around the next.

In summer, you get a whiff of wild garlic off to the left as you relish the cool shadows - and a 21

chance to admire the annually dumped broken fridge.

The next corner gets steeper. At this point, you're trapped between a sitting and standing, as well as the realisation that with no relief in sight - and your front wheel lifting slightly - standing up is only going to be a very short term solution.

But the gradient slackens ever so slightly and you can grind on up in the saddle over some rough patches.

There is a sweet little patch of false summit around the last right hander, where the road eases so you can hear the blood thumping behind the ears rather than your ragged breathing. Alas, there is then another kick to the top past the golf club sign on your right. As you stop your stopwatch you might be rewarded with a glimpse of a fellow athlete - teeing off to your right.

Shaley Brow. You made it. You also hated it. But if you're like me, you've unfortunately found just what you need.

It isn't a major climb, but it always stings. It's the perfect hill for me as it's a warmup ride away from home - a no excuses destination that gives me a litmus test of fitness against myself and others. It's pretty quiet with more people coming down it than up it [funny that] and it seems to always whack you somehow - even when you're in the best summer shape ever.

I still don't mention to 'the club' that I climb Shaley Brow on a regular basis. It's as disrespectful to club tradition as shouting 'MacBeth' in Dame Judi's Dench's ear.

Sitting at the top this summer, a small group of us waited for the laboured arrival of a Spin Cycle contributor that shall remain nameless.

"Christ," he panted, pulling up to the group and stopping. "That never gets any easier. No wonder the local pros won't touch it. Even Wiggins doesn't like it."

We contemplated this amazing 'fact' silently.

Wiggins, frightened of Shaley? The conqueror of the worst tour climbs, shivering under his duvet of a Sunday morning at the thought of the snow-capped summit of Shaley?

Anyway...for mortals, it's definitely worth including Shaley in your training run twice a month - just to know you are still pushing yourself and to pay homage to the true athletes of Shaley Brow - the golfers.

Shaley Brow can be found on the aptly named Crank Lane between Rainford and Up Holland.

Please provide a doctor's note and do make sure you can engage bottom gear before setting out.

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Café culture

Café culture

My Life in Cafés: The birth of Pâtisserie Cyclisme

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Words by Louise Mullagh & Main image by Dan Kenyon

Y MOTHER informed me recently that I have always had an obsession with cafés, one which has never really left me.

In fact, my earliest memories are either of visiting cafés or riding bikes. Then I worked in various cafés to fund my studies, so I suppose I was destined to one day combine the two and indulge my lifelong obsessions.

Pâtisserie Cyclisme was born on a bitterly cold January afternoon in 2010, on a short ride that had helped me get out of the house during a rather dark phase of my life. My gradual return to cycling was organised around café stops, as it meant there was a purpose to go out and I could get warmed up after riding in the freezing cold of the north Lancashire fells.

It wasn’t really an outstanding “Eureka” moment, but more of a “Hmmmm I wonder if a website where cyclists could post reviews of their favourite stops would work?” sort of thing.

When I got home I floated this concept via Twitter and it was met with a great response, as I had tapped into something held very dear to many cyclists. It all started with a really basic blog, where folk could email me quick reviews of their favourite cafés, with a little information about the quality, its location and any features that would be handy to know about.

A website always needs a name, so I once again got some ideas from folk online and Pâtisserie Cyclisme was brought into existence.

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Café culture

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There is a very close relationship between cyclists and their café stops, one which I am determined to get to the bottom of one day

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Creator of Pâtisserie Cyclisme Louise Mullagh, centre, together with some of her friends and customers during the launch of her very own cycling kit

Within a couple of months, I had received a lot of reviews and it was getting a little tricky to organise them all so set up a better site and a specific form cyclists could fill in and submit.

Again, the reviews piled in, which was brilliant, but it got to the stage were the site couldn’t be used all that well for searching for locations, so it was time to make it all a little more professional.

I’m lucky to know some very talented people and it was one of them who designed the stunning logo and the new website. My aim all along was to have an easy to use site that looked very lovely, where it would be easy to search for and post reviews and to work well on a mobile.

The logo went down a storm and immediately Pâtisserie Cyclisme started to get known about. Soon, I was approached by Al from Polocini to work on a joint event that turned out to be the ‘Let them Eat Cake’ ride back in June.

We had just under 300 people and a nice day for a really

lovely ride around the Cheshire lanes, out to Eureka (the oldest cycling café in England) followed by cake at the end.

This gave me the opportunity to get a new website designed, as it was time for a really functional site that folk could use on the move. We launched in July, with a site that looks fantastic and works really well - whether from home or on the move.

Earlier this year, we launched our own cycling kit and we are just about to put in another order ready for Christmas, which has been hugely exciting and it is amazing to see people riding round in my own kit.

There is a very close relationship between cyclists and their café stops, one which I am determined to get to the bottom of one day. Cyclists tell me their main reasons for visiting cafes on rides is for the banter, the camaraderie and of course for something sweet to eat and a coffee kick after a long ride. My own view is that it is usually for shelter, es-

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Café culture

pecially up north, the chance to sit and warm your hands after a wet ride or just to escape the wind.

I have tried to tease deep and meaningful reasons from many a cyclist over the last year, but the overwhelming response has been “for the social aspect” or “because a steaming coffee and a piece of cake is a marvellous reward for a good ride”.

Part of the allure of the cycling café is often the unique collections of memorabilia they display, often built up over many years by the owners.

The photos of famous local riders and jerseys add, not only to the atmosphere, but are hugely important in recording the history of British cycling.

It makes us cyclists feel at home and inspired when surrounded by our heroes while being able to indulge in cake and a steaming mug of coffee. Cafés are increasingly showing live racing and organising events, capitalising on the increasing popularity of our sport in the UK after such an amazing year in 2012.

For instance, Bikebeans is a new venture located close to Boxhill, home of the 2012 Olympic road race course. They show live racing, as well as organising regular rides and events.

Another example is ‘Look Mum No Hands’ in London, leading the way in cafés where you can go to see an exhibition or for a book preview or, of course, to watch live racing.

Up north we have Eureka, run by Anne Peek, which is the UK’s oldest cycling café and is regularly packed out by local cycling clubs with their famous beans on toast and a spare.

A newer venture opening soon is the Polocini café, run by Al and his partner Claire, which promises to be a hub for cyclists in the North West. They’re planning to show races live while cyclists watch and eat some homemade cake or, more importantly, perhaps, a very well made coffee.

There are far too many cafés to mention here. We now have 235 reviews from all over the world and some iconic examples ranging from the Tourmalet Café to a serve yourself and leave some pennies in the honesty box place in Cumbria. My interest in the culture of cycling and the cycling café has led to some really interesting articles being written for the site too and this is something I am really keen to develop further.

I don’t have a master plan as such for the site right now, as I have just started a PhD, which is, of course, cycling related. But it has meant that I have met some really fantastic people so far, all of whom are just as passionate as I am about cycling, coffee and cake.

It would be wonderful to one day produce a book of the world’s best cycling cafés, but until then, I hope to develop the site further, add more articles and of course get lots more people riding around in my beautiful kit.

For more information about your local café stops or to submit a review, visit www.patisseriecyclisme.com

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Return of the McEvoy Words & Photography by James Maloney

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I’ve had a really good season with Endura. Sometimes you want to do the bigger road races, but it's good to get stuck in there and come out the other end

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IKEABLE doesn’t even begin to describe St Helen’s Jonny McEvoy. This chirpy, cheerful chap is a bundle of energy – especially on the road – so it’s no wonder that his services have been retained under the guise of the newly amalgamated NetApp-Endura for 2013.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed one of his best seasons yet, starting off with a great win in the Premier Calendar at the Tour DoonHame before finishing second on a stage of the Tour of Normandy. After that, a top 10 in the British Road Race Championships followed and then he won his fight to be selected for the Endura squad in the Tour of Britain.

We meet at the foot of the renowned Shaley Brow in Billinge, a few miles from Johnny’s home in St Helens.

Instantly, his upbeat and cheerful persona shines through. Laughing and joking during photos at the roadside with his training partner for the day, Mark McNally from An Post.

With the photos done and dusted, McEvoy accepts the offer of one of my home-made breakfast bars, so too does McNally, before the duo agrees to stop at the top of this local ‘killer 26

hill’ to continue the interview.

Driving past the two on the way to the summit, I spot Johnny trying to make McNally laugh by attempting a wheelie up the steep incline towards the top of Shaley. That’s no easy feat – especially for mere mortals like me, who have suffered on this hill with its 14 per cent incline (and then some).

At the top, both seize the chance to grab a flask of coffee to keep warm in the cool yet bright autumn sunshine.

McNally looks on with a boyish smirk as Jonny begins to tell me about his season this year.

“I was third in the Tour du Finistère, which is a 1.1 class race in France,” explains McEvoy. “It’s a really good race. Julien Simon won and Samuel Dumoulin from Cofidis finished second, so to get on the podium for that, as it's quite tough, was pretty good for a pro race and it was a tough finish as well.

“I have had a really good season with Endura and really enjoyed it.

Sometimes you want to do the bigger road races, but it's good to get stuck in there and come out the other end.”

During the Tour of Britain, McEvoy was always prominent force at the front of the peloton and could

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Liverpool Century got me started. There were plenty of funny times with the club, riding over to Wales with all the mad Scousers

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constantly be seen working unselfishly hard to control the race for his team leader, Jon TiernanLocke – a clear sign that Johnny, know previously for winning in bunch kicks, isn’t just a one trick pony.

“One of my highlights of the year was helping John Tiernan-Locke win the Tour of Britain,” added McEvoy. “He said at the start of the season that he could win it after he won the Tour du Haut Var and I had a bit of job to get selected for the team.

“Thankfully, I got the call to do it. We knew that Tieran-Locke was that good, so we all worked for him over the eight days. It got tough towards the end, but we all put the efforts in and Jon got the job done.”

Despite basking in the shared glory of helping Tiernan-Locke become the first home winner of a Tour of Britain since 1989, Stage 2 held a special place in Johnny’s heart with many family and friends cheering him on at the finish in Knowsley Safari Park.

“Finishing Stage Two of the Tour of Britain in Knowsley was brilliant,” smiled McEvoy. “All my family and friends, as well as club members and old school mates were there cheering me on, so that was class. Then, at the finishing, on some of the roads where I normally train, you could see Wiggins on the road. They're still there now. It’s great to see how popular cycling has become.”

Having put in such a commanding performance during Britain’s own version of the Grande Boucle, which attracted an average of 382,000 viewers across the eight days of the race, Jonny was hopeful that he would have done enough to secure his place in the newly-merged ProContinental team, NetApp Endura.

Luckily, the former Great Britain Cycling Team Academy rider had just done that and next season will link up with team-mates Iker Camano, Zak Dempster, Russell Downing, Erick Rowsell, Scott Thwaites, Paul Voss and Alexander Wetterhall under the guidance of manager Brian Smith.

“I rode with most of the lads last year,” reveals McEvoy. “So I am definitely looking forward to racing with good lads again. Next year will be bigger again, so I reckon that we will do a Grand Tour, so I'll be trying to put myself in a position for that.

“Luckily, I had done enough over the last couple of season that, when the teams merged, I got my place on the new team.”

Not bad for a lad from St Helens, who first started out in cycling with Liverpool Century before moving onto the Great Britain Cycling Team Academy with the likes of McNally.

“I first got into cycling through one of my mates,” says McEvoy. “He doesn't ride anymore – the Pugh family – two brothers and a dad, who said 'do you want a go?' and I have never looked back since then and that was when I was 14.

“Liverpool Century got me started off with schoolboy racing with the likes of Macca and I just progressed from there, really. There were plenty of funny times with the club, riding over to Wales with all the mad Scousers.

“I was on the academy in Italy with Macca and then I rode for Motorpoint for a year and now I'll be going to Pro Continental next year.

“Merseyside is good place for producing decent cyclists because there are good roads and good clubs, as well as people's attitudes to just get on with it.

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chances if you want to do well and want to race, like if you're a young lad then you've got a lot of help like at the Century, Mercury and St Helens cycling club. There are enough people to help you and enough going on, that you can just enjoy it. It's something that's hard and if you don't want to do it, then you won't do well.”

Speaking of hard work, I touch on the subject of winter training and how it’s progressing so far.

Jonny reveals that his preparation will consist of building on a block of cyclo-cross races and then heading off for an unofficial training camp somewhere warmer before linking up with NetAppEndura in January. Though, he is keen not to dismiss the hard training ground to be found on his doorstep in Merseyside and West Lancs.

“I usually train in the winter with Macca, but not with him during the summer,” explains McEvoy.

“There is Ian Bibby that I do a bit of riding with as well. Normally, I'll just ride round the lanes by St Helens, as that's where I live.

“I have climbed up Shaley Brow and Ashurst Beacon a stupid amount of times as well. Probably more than anyone. I have no idea what my fastest time up them is. I'll have to get myself on that Strava.

“I enjoy coming round here doing a little route, as well as a four hour ride round this way too. In the summer, I'd normally link up with a few of the other lads and ride into Wales.

“I have not started proper yet with my winter training. I am going to do a bit of cyclo-cross and then get a good winter. I have got a team winter training camp in January in Spain. Before that, there are like two of us go for like a week to do a bit of training, stay there do a bit of riding and have a laugh.

“I have just looked at the calendar up until May and, it's not definite yet, but hopefully I'll start the season in Argentina.

“I have not even discuss my programme for next season properly yet and I have got an idea of what I'll be doing up until May, but I just want to do good and had a consistent year. Whenever the chance comes to get a result and it's a winner, then hopefully I'll do that.”

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Johnny McEvoy

Merseyside is good place for producing decent cyclists because there are good roads and good clubs, as well as people's attitudes to just get on with it www.spincyclemag.com

CLUBBING SCENE

Title

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Words by Chris White & Photography by James Maloney

Some cycling clubs operate on an almost magic circle basis, where only the initiated or ordained are allow into the fold

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ITH the ‘Wiggo-effect’ in full swing and the quiet country lanes now flooded with cyclists, it is fair to say that sport is most definitely undergoing a renaissance in the UK. Exactly how long newbies or returning mamils (middle-aged men in Lycra) will stay is dependent on how they fit into the traditional style of cycling club. Most are friendly enough and welcome new members with open arms, offering encouragement to those interested and keen to attract both adults and junior riders alike – male and female.

Though, there are some clubs that seem determinate to stay stuck in the Dark Ages and operate on an almost magic circle basis, where only the initiated or ordained are allow in the circle of trust. Even then, you still have to earn your spurs before you are given any sort of respect.

Therefore, joining a cycling club can be a bit of a leap of faith. Common questions often asked before going for your first test ride are usually along the lines of ‘Am I fast

enough?’, ‘will I be able to unclip at the lights?’ or ‘can I actually climb that hill?’.

Most people starting out with a new club often find themselves stuck with the beginner’s group, which is usually made up of newcomers, youngsters and the elderly members of the club, who still like to turn a gear or too but just can’t keep up with the pace of the big-hitters.

Next up is normally the middle group, which is formed by those who have stepped up from the beginner’s group and those who, again, can’t quite hack the pace of the big hitters.

Lastly, it’s the big hitters. These fellows are the ones who are very race focused and batter themselves around the lanes in all weather, turning the pedals at such a pace that it would leave most beginners wishing they’d taken up another sport instead.

The biggest problem with this hierarchy is that everyone is normally geared towards moving up to the top tier and that doesn’t leave much room for those who want to just enjoy www.spincyclemag.com

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Clubbing scene

the sport. Luckily, there is an alternative to the race orientated club.

Back in 2011, a new bike shop opened on the Wirral, Vita Cycles. It wasn’t long before regular group rides started from the shop, led by the jovially-named The Wirral Mamils Cycling Club.

Eventually, the ranks soon started to swell with those not wishing to sign up to the racing-based ethic of other clubs and, instead, focus more on enjoying a spin on a Saturday morning.

Vita Cycles soon announced the UK’s first underground time-trial in the form of the ‘Ten Minutes of Hell’, which was a through and back race held in the Queensway Tunnel and eventually won by Team Sky’s Alex Dowsett.

However, the lure of taking part in a small-scale event on their doorstep proved too much for the Mamils and soon all the riders from the club– many of whom had never pinned on a race number before - signed up for the event.

Training took the form of riding out to the tunnel every Sunday, a couple of runs through to Liverpool and back before taking in a loop of Wirral round the coast and then heading for a well-earned brew to the famous Eureka Cafe.

With the time-trial event over, there was now a bit of a split in the club – those still keen to race and those who wanted to go back to just enjoying a ride on a weekend.

For a time, the club stayed as one unit, but when new members started getting dropped on club-runs a decision was soon made for the two factions to go their separate ways.

In the beginning, there were only four lads – Chris, Paul, Tim and Ade – who decided to continue meandering round the lanes with a cafe stop half way through. The pace was a much more sociable and the miles certainly flew past even in the rain.

Over the following weeks, the fab four began going for evening rides on a Tuesday and Thursday as the nights became lighter and less cold. There were regularly 10 riders and, as the weekend rides became popular, some of the old crew - as well as lots of new faces – would meet up at the 12th Man pub in Greasby before heading out into Cheshire and Wales. Some of the riders would either go out towards Delamere station Cafe, home of the best Bakewell tart according to one of the riders, Ken, while the others would usually end up at the Ponderosa cafe on the top of the Horseshoe Pass.

Obviously, coffee and cake were huge motivational factors in planning the weekend route and one ride in particular took that ethos to a whole new level when a www.spincyclemag.com

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Clubbing scene

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route was devised to ride across the water – not literally, of course - to a new cafe in Kelsall called the Greedy Pig. Eight of the riders ventured through the Birkenhead tunnel during the early hours of the morning before taking a more interesting route the along the waterfront to Widnes and over the Runcorn Bridge, then towards to Kelsall via Frodsham and Delamere.

At this point, the group decided that they needed an identity of their own and it was agreed that if a club was to be started, it had to be inclusive.

New riders would be made to feel welcome whatever their ability and support would always be given to the slower riders to ensure that everyone finished together.

Chris White, one of the key people involved with setting up the initial group before the big split had been writing an online journal about his 32

experiences trying to get fit through cycling – The Palefish Blog.

It was a name he had come up with some years before, when the dream of opening his own bike shop with one of his friends almost came to fruition. Neither of their surnames was suitable to go above the door of a bike shop, so they used a little imagination and an amalgamation of their surnames to come up with Pale Fish Bikes.

Alas, the shop didn’t happen. But when the lads decided to start a club, it was unanimous that it should be used and Palefish Cycling Club was born.

It didn’t take long for the club to become establish and, at the height of summer, there were more than 17 people out for a club ride.

Starting out with just 17 members, the fledgling club soon grew to a whopping 45 riders regularly heading out on clubruns every week during the

height of the summer. One thing the lads do differently at Palefish is the use of social media – and in a big way. Not only do they have their own Facebook page, but they also log their Strava rides to prospective members details on all their riders rides. Twitter even comes into play for arranging weekday rides by using the hash tag ‘#730atthe12th’. Despite the fitness and ability of the members increasing as the membership grows, everyone involved has vowed to stick to the basic principle that whenever a new rider joins a ride, the pace is set at their ability and they are made welcome. Even though some of the members have improved to an extent where they are now competing in triathlon races and marathons, there is no intention for the club to start a race team of its own though. Not yet, anyway.

But the adventures don’t stop just there. A

number of those involved have tackled the likes of The Etape Du Tour – Act II, Lands End to John O’Groats, The Alps, Cycling the Pennine Way and From Loch Lomond to Loch Leven in Scotland – all the time flying the Palefish flag.

And what does the future hold for Palefish?

Well, it’s simple really - help people who want to take up cycling (or get back into it) feel comfortable and welcome; maybe improve their fitness and riding technique or enter sportives, but – more importantly - have fun.

If you would like to join the club for a spin all you need to do is turn up at the 12th Man in Greasby at19.30 on any Tuesday or Thursday night. For further information visit www.palefish.co.uk www.spincyclemag.com

Diamond geezer Words & Photography by James Maloney

Craig Middleton

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I went into the family bank account and there was only £90 left in the account to pay for my family for the next month. I was just like 'oh my God' and 'I have no money to feed my family' 35

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ROM small beginnings come great things, so goes the proverb. Never could that saying be more suited than to the founder of Onix Bikes, Craig Middleton.

Don’t worry if you’ve not heard of him before – you soon will.

He has just sold the small acorn that is Onix Bikes to an investor, who is planning to make the brand a household name across the UK and Europe.

Life wasn’t always so good to Craig. He openly admits that his ‘journey’, as he calls it, has had its fair share of ups-anddowns – more so the latter – but just when divine intervention was needed, he’d have it in bucket loads.

If ever there was a guy to stand next to at a casino, the fatherof-two definitely is your man. Lady Luck will be smiling down if you stick with him.

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some extremely lows over the three years since he founded Onix. At one point, he even resorted to selling bric-a-brac out of his garage to put food on the table for his family – all in the name of trying to

keep his dream alive of owning a bike brand.

“There was one month in particular, I went into the family bank account and all the money had gone across to pay the bills,” revealed Craig. “There was only £90 left in the account to pay for my family for the next month. I was just like 'oh my God' and 'I have no money to feed my family'.

“It's amazing how resourceful you become when you've got to do it. I remember the wife came in and asked me was it fine for her to use the card to go shopping to Asda, which I always asked her to do even though I wasn't sure whether it would be refused or not.

“So I kind of just said 'here' and handed her a load of cash from my back pocket. While she was out, I went into the garage and pulled everything out that I could sell on eBay. I just about managed to get enough money from that to put food on the table that month.

“Yes, it was pretty hardcore at times, but when you're starting a business up on your own, with no help from anyone or without any financial clout, then that's the reality of it.

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Whatever you decide to do, it's going to be hard.

Looking back, it was harder than I originally thought.”

Having been a printer for 22 years since he left school, Craig had grown tired of his job despite earning a comfortable living. Call it a mid-life crisis or whatever you like. He’d had enough.

Craig had played golf to a high level and almost went pro, but just couldn’t push that little bit further.

Planning for his future, he had always assumed that he’d teach golf somewhere but, again, that never really worked out and so he ended up in the printing industry for the next two decades until 2009.

“I sort of got to a breaking point when my shift work really started to impact on my family life,” explained Craig. “At this point, I had two little girls and was doing nights and late shifts, but hardly spending any time with my family. The thought of doing that for another 26 years just horrified me, so I decided that I would have to change my job.

“I couldn't change my career because if I did that, then it would mean basically starting on the bottom rung of the ladder and I'd then struggle to pay the bills.

“Once I realised that I wasn't going to walk into another industry or start earning the same sort of money I was on previously, I just thought 'right, if I have to do that then I might as well start my own business'.

“If I was going to do that, then having had a job that I hated for so long I was going to do the polar opposite and do something that I absolutely loved. Cycling was my passion and that was my dream way of earning a living, so I went for it.”

Onix Bikes was born, but the next year-and-a-half proved to be almost a breaking point and, at times, bankruptcy loomed round almost every corner. Craig was trying to break his way into the cycling industry without any real financial backing or experience. He was naive to say the least. That said, he did have one asset – determination and an almost indestructible selfbelief.

“When I made this decision, it all made perfect sense in my head,” added Craig. “Obviously, when I look at it now, I think what an absolutely crazy thing to do. The first year-and-a-half was the toughest, but there were times in that period that I wasn't selling any bikes.

Understandably, you're trying to get your product ready and a brand in place, so I just wasn't selling anything at those points. It was all work in progress.

“Despite all that, I still had this blinding belief that it 36

Craig Middleton

When I made this decision, it all made perfect sense in my head. Obviously, when I look at it now, I think what an absolutely crazy thing to do www.spincyclemag.com

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would all eventually become a success. I can't honestly explain where that came from. I had no previous experience in the industry and I was doing all this on my own. When you look at all that, there was no sense whatsoever for me to have believed that it was ever going to be a success.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so he began almost stalking Eurosport commentator David Harmon via Twitter. Eager to squeeze oil out of a grain of sand, Craig kept pestering Harmon for any sort of publicity for Onix - even the briefest of name checks - throughout the first week of the 2010 edition of the Tour de France.

Luckily, it paid off and it wasn’t long before Middleton and Harmon had a chat about Onix.

“Harmon was the first big break that I got,” explained Craig. “I just sent him the same tweet about seven times during every stage, saying 'give Onix Bikes a mention – they're a new British brand'. I got no reply and after about the seventh or eighth stage of doing this, I got a direct message of him. I was fully expecting this message to say 'look, will you just f-off sending me those tweets'. Luckily, it didn't. It just said 'your bikes look nice' – that was it, nothing else.

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Obviously, I realised that he had gone on the website and had a look.”

However, the trail went cold for the next six months and it was only after a luckless meeting at Cycling Weekly that Harmon once again reached out to Craig like some sort of fairygodmother. Craig had been looking for publicity from one of the country’s top cycling publications, but he left with the words “'we don't want people like you starting up a bike brand” ringing in his ears on his way back from London.

“For me, this was going to be like the seminal point in the journey and it turned out to be, but for completely the opposite reason,” revealed Craig. “I went down there all kind of bullish and thinking that because I had my two road bikes in stock, they were going to take notice of me. After all, I was a new British bike brand with some new shiny new handlebars, seat-posts and bottlecages – I'll get a bike review.

“As it turns out, as I know now, I wasn’t ready for that meeting and it couldn't have gone any worse. They just didn't take me seriously because I just didn't have the experience in the industry at that point and that was quite evident

in the meeting. Basically, they just said 'look, no, you're not going to get a bike review – just go away'.

“I got back in the car and tears were shed. I can't remember the last time that I had cried before then, but I just thought 'if these guys won't take me serious and I have no marketing budget, how I am going to even let people know the bikes exist'. I just thought that was it - the end. Every other problem, I had managed to find a way round, but this one I just couldn't see how I was going to do it.

“I got back in the car, drove home and as soon as I got Wi-Fi at the first service station, I tweeted out – having made a big deal about it before the meeting - that it didn't go very well, not sure where to go from here or something along those lines. Then 40-miles down the motorway, my phone rang and it was an unrecognised number. I answered it and this voice said 'is that Craig Middleton – it’s Dave Harmon here'. He told me that he loved what I was doing and that he would arrange a meeting.”

Less than a week later, Harmon was stood in Craig’s kitchen with Ken Jones from Bioracer and Dan Patten, a promising young pro rider

Craig Middleton

from Essex. A deal was struck that Harmon would do some PR work for Onix if Craig could provide bikes for the Asfra Flanders Team rider to race on over in Belgium.

This was a win-win situation for the business and Craig. Not only would the bikes get the test of all tests riding across the infamous pavé, they’d also have the prestige of having a young rider like Dan putting them through their paces up climbs like the Koppenberg.

“You can't sell performance bikes without having someone out there to back it up,” explains Craig. “So to have Dan racing out in Belgium was great for us. He was racing the bikes hard. To have the bikes survive a whole season of racing over there showed how robust the product was. If it wasn’t, it would break.

And, importantly, they came through with flying colours.”

Both the Azzuro and Aurious models of Onix Bikes had survived the gruelling racing conditions of a full season in Belgium and helped Dan to two wins, two podiums and 12 top-10 placing, in addition to a two-day overall classification victory, during 2011.

“These bikes didn’t just survive the season -

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they thrived,” beamed Pattern. “It has been a pleasure to be involved with Onix in what was their real maiden year. To have a company that is just starting out have confidence in my ability as a cyclist and to provide me with the equipment I needed for a season in Belgium, was something I am truly grateful for. This again speaks volumes about the quality of bike coming from Onix.”

With a promising young pro like Dan giving the bikes the thumbs-up, Harmon knew that he was safe to recommend another real top level classics racer to Onix. Sadly, the rider in question could never be named, as he was contracted to another bike brand. However, he was able to give some 38

good feedback about the bikes that went into helping steer the company towards the models for 2012.

“It was frustrating that we couldn't actually say who it was,” explains Craig. “Then Dave rang me up round July. He said that he had just had a chat with Rob Hayles, who was retiring at the end of that year.

“Straight away, I realised that there was an opportunity to talk to him first. When I rang him up, it was a bit strange at first. Like most people, I'd stood at the side of the road and cheered him on in the Tour of Britain and stuff, so speaking to him on the phone and arranging a meeting was a bit bizarre.

“About three days later, I arranged to meet Rob in a coffee shop in Manchester. When I was driving there, I remember thinking 'how I am going to get Rob Hayles attached to my brand and I haven't got a penny to offer him'.

“I literally didn't have any kind of financial reward to offer him whatsoever. When we met up, we got on straight away as he has got a couple of kids about the same age as mine. I just pitched it to Rob about the whole ethos and journey of the company rather than the financial reward. I told him that I needed him to look further down the road financially rather than what I could offer him at that point, as I couldn't offer him much there and then.

“The initial agreement was just for him to be our test rider and that we would pay him to test the bikes on a daily rate. Also, we would name him on our website and say that he tested the bikes and that's why they ride so well.

“But, as the testing process went on and, I am not blowing sunshine up my own backside here, he realised the lengths we were going to make sure the product was the best it could be.

Eventually, it led to him telling me how good the bikes were, so I just said 'right, why don't you put your name to them then' and he replied 'ok then, I will'. That's how the Rob Hayles signature bikes were born.”

Having a three-time Olympic medallist and

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double track World Champion, as well as an ex-British National Road Race Champ, onboard gave Onix some major kudos within the UK bike industry. It wasn’t long before cycling journalists across the country wanted to know a bit more about this little-known bike company near Preston.

Full-length feature reviews in all the major cycling magazine soon followed – even the likes of Cycling Weekly dedicated two whole pages to Rob’s involvement with the development of the 2012 RH and RH-Pro models – and there were even appearances on ITV4’s The Cycle Show, where Hayles was a regular co-presenter. Lady Luck was smiling once again on Craig.

Throw into the mix the fact that Onix also supplied the RH-Pro to the Moutivation Cycling Academy Team, which racked up a load of wins throughout the tear, including James Knoxx grabbing the National Junior Hill Climb Championships and it’s fair to say that it has been a good year for Onix.

What will life hold for Craig in 2013? Despite selling the company to an investor, he remains the director and aims more to focus on the development of the brand than having to worry about the day-to-day running of Onix.

“He is a rich guy and has got money but more importantly, he has been a keen road cyclist for more than 30 years and he gets the whole ethos of Onix,” mentions Craig.

“Everything that we have always wanted to do, we can now.

“I can't tell you how frustrating it is when you've got a product as good as the RH and RH Pro in the way it rides and the way it looks, plus the fact that you've got a double world champion who is testing it and endorsing it, but you've got no way or means to tell the world about it. It's so frustrating.

“The next thing literally is working on the new models for next year, but it's all subject to Rob giving us the green light. If he doesn't say that it's good enough, then we won't be bringing it out.

“That goes right back to our ethos before. We don't just want to bring it out because we want to make some money.

It will only come out if it's as good as we can make it. Put it this way, if we can't find what we are looking for then it probably doesn't exist.”

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Making my own way

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Words & Photography by James Maloney

Even though I am not racing for Southport Cycling Club anymore, I will never forget the help and support that they have given me especially Ken Beck and Colin Baldwin 40

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HIS year has been filled with ups and downs for one junior rider. I provided them with my cycling palmarès and young Southport CC rider, Josh Townson – and it after further discussion, they welcomed me onboard. hasn’t just been the courses he has raced on throughout “I will be a part of a four-man race team competing in the Junior National Series, Isle of Man International Junior Tour, 2012.

The 17-year-old, who has just been picked up by Dirtwheels Junior Tour of Ireland and the Junior Tour of Wales. We will Cycles Junior Race Team, has had his fair share of bad luck – be provided with team kit, nutritional support, coaching and slipping a chain in one race only to crash and ruin his financial support to help us compete in more major events.

“I would like to say a big thank you to Dirtwheels Cycles for expensive carbon machine in the next.

That aside, he has shown true maturity in both his ability and this exciting opportunity, which will allow me to step-up to a determination – shrugging off each incident and bouncing new level in cycling. back in his following races. He even racked up a decent “However, it must also be said that even though I am not number of top placings against stronger opponents and moved racing for Southport Cycling Club anymore, I will never up to a second category junior – attracting the attention of his forget the help and support that they have given me over the past three years - especially Ken Beck and Colin Baldwin.” new team, Dirtwheels Cycles.

Josh said: “My name had been given to them by a fellow But how did it all begin for Josh. Well, after starting out riding www.spincyclemag.com

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mountain bikes back in 2010, it wasn’t long before the lure of road racing soon beckoned and he took his first steps towards competitive racing by competing in the 10-mile time-trials at Rainford.

Enough of us telling you his story. Here, in his own words, is what happened for him throughout the last 12 months: I began in 2011 by competing in a few of the 10 mile TT's at Rainford to try and build up some speed and stamina and during 2011, I rode 30 events - mainly criterium races, but with a few road races and got myself up to a Cat 3 as a result.

The winter of 2011/2012 meant at a lot of long training rides with the Southport. Usually, they’d be 60-90 mile rides up towards Scorton and even Lancaster. All low pace but helpful to build a bit of endurance.

I was up against it with A-level revision the whole winter, so it was hard to find the training time as well, but I did the best to get out on the bike in any spare time I had up until Christmas.

January brought the Wednesday night chain-gang at the Pimbo industrial estate. It's a pretty quiet place in the evenings with just the faint aroma of biscuits from the factories still lingering in the night air from the day's baking.

Blessed with wide smooth roads and a long drag of a climb, it's a perfect way to build for the season ahead. I was managing more-and-more each week to hang on with the group, who were all building for the season ahead like me.

Interval training with them and prolonged efforts on a turbo trainer became the norm through to March. I was told by many of the riders, as we sped around Pimbo under the sodium lights, that this year would by a big step up for me, a learning curve, and road racing at the higher level would give me a different type of challenge. They weren’t wrong.

On Saturday, March 3, it was time for the classic Eddie Soens Memorial Race at Aintree Racecourse. Attracting the best UK domestic professionals, I don't mind admitting that it was a total shock to the system. Even though it was a wet for the first few laps, the pace was still high. I suffered throughout and, with two-thirds of the race completed, enough-was-enough. I was exhausted and had to pull out.

I was very disappointed - especially after all the work I'd put in, but I watched Russ Downing up on the podium and thought "at least I stuck in there with riders like him for a while".

'Onwards and upwards', I thought and turned my attention to my second race of the weekend - the first CDNW league event at my training home turf of the glamorous Pimbo.

After the epic effort on the Saturday, I held in but surprise41

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surprise - I had no energy left for the bunch sprint at the end. It was an enjoyable weekend of racing and a very hefty kick-start to my season.

The rest of March saw me racing in the second CDNW league event at Saighton, followed by another race at Pimbo organised by Merseyside Wheelers.

I was determined to improve my results from my first weekend of racing. And in both races, I did and with the curve was rising - finishing 22nd out of 58 riders at Saighton and 18th out of 80 riders at Pimbo.

These results were pretty satisfying considering the competition and I was beginning to reach the kind of form where I could hang in the leading group in a race for the duration. I just needed the extra energy and pace to contest the sprint.

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My next race a tough hilly CDNW league event at Capernwray on Sunday, April 1, brought me down to earth with a crunch. A crunch of chain links, to be exact.

With just one lap left, my chain decided to derail and that was the end of my race. It was my first competition 'mechanical' and far more frustrating than chucking a chain on a training ride after all the work I'd put in. All part of bike racing, of course. But a miserable lesson in chance all the same.

Onwards I went. Two more races followed. The first was the The Lewis Balyckyi Memorial Criterium Race, a circuit race held over an hour at the Palatine Circuit in Blackpool. It brought up the next problem for a newbie like me - how to read the break.

The decisive move in Blackpool came at the

mid-point, when six riders broke clear. I attacked again-and-again, but just couldn't bridge the gap.

The good news was when I rolled in I was getting closer to a top 10 finish. And in a bunch sprint of 10 riders, you have a pretty good chance to win or podium.

A week later was the lumpy Aughton Road Race organised by Lune RCC. The race sprung into life after 22-miles, with a group of five riders escaping and working well together to pull away gradually.

Once again, I missed the break and was boxed in by others not eager to chase – costing me valuable seconds. I didn't manage to bridge the gap and rolled in 14th out of 40 riders. I was getting frustrated with myself at this point – I’d missed the decisive break two weeks in a row.

However, I put this down to experience and

thought that I would eventually be able to suss out whether a breakaway was going to succeed or not. With two months of racing done, it was time for a mid-season break. Well, a switch to more work rather than a break - I had my ASLevel exams and therefore had to put all my time into preparing for them.

With my exams finished, my next race was the Horwich Handicap Road Race. Having hardly touched the bike in three weeks, I knew that I had inevitably lost some fitness (and it showed).

When the E/1/2 group caught our group and came powering through, the pace was suddenly too high for me and I soon dropped off the main peloton. Nevertheless, it was good to get the workout and force some speed back into my legs.

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was time for the Horwich Festival of Racing and another new experience - crashing. This time, the race started off at a ferocious speed. My legs were not ready for the sudden and prolonged injection of pace. I remained at the back of the peloton, suffering and just about hanging on lap-by-lap.

On the last lap of the race, another rider crashed in front of me, causing me to be forced straight over my handlebars and onto the tarmac. Lying there, the feeling of shock soon disappeared and I started checking my injuries, which weren't pretty - a degloved hand, which required stitches, and road rash on my elbows knees and lower back.

Worse news followed when I checked my bike and found my beloved Kuota KOM Evo frame was cracked in two places. This was a definite low of my racing season, as I stood there dripping blood and wondering how I was to finish the rest of my season on my winter bike.

Good luck came my way, though. Within a couple of days, I'd had a phone call from Craig Middleton – managing director of Onix Bikes, who had heard about my crash and very kindly offered me the chance to borrow an Onix Azzuro race bike.

I couldn't limp over covered in road rash fast enough and I was straight back in action at the tenth CDNW league event at Pimbo Industrial Estate. The bike felt great and despite the tightness from the knocks and lack of fitness, again I managed to grit my teeth, do a lot of work - chasing and attacking, which I hoped would still pay off later on in the season. Luckily, I managed to come in the top 30 out of 55 riders.

Two weeks later was the Birkenhead Park Handicap Road Race.

Every five laps in this race, there was a prime 'sprint' lap. I like to conserve energy and not contest these prime laps, but the short steep incline leading up to the finish line was the sort of climb I love.

I wasn't sure if I could hang on for subsequent laps, so I tried to surprise the group by going for the first prime sprint. I sat in and used lead riders up the incline and then came around them as they lined up to contest the line and I won.

Five laps later, the bell rung to signal the beginning of another prime 'sprint' lap. I thought that I may as well have another attempt and try and make it two prime lap wins. Unfortunately, I lost out by the smallest of margins to a second category rider.

All the same, I was happy to have been able to battle for two sprint laps and I ended up taking 10th place out of 40 riders in the bunch sprint, so I had arrived. I do not often win a lot of prize money, but I walked away from this race with ÂŁ60 for a prime lap win and, more importantly, the best placed third category rider!

It's funny, but training with people you race against isn't the same as racing itself. The Birkenhead handicap gave me proof 43

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that I was good enough to be at the front. It seemed that I was finally coming into form and I carried this into the 12th CDNW league event at Dolphinholme.

It's a brutally hilly circuit on the edge of the Trough of Bowland and with strong winds it was not long before a select group of riders broke away to create a lead group of 10 riders.

I was learning to recognise certain riders and form. This time I had a good sense of the ability of riders within the break away and realised that it was going to stay away. So, although I'd missed the break yet again (I have to work on that one), I made the decision to join them.

After relentlessly chasing for three miles, I thankfully got up to them and had a little time to rest before the final contest for the line - a last minute sprint up a very deceiving hard incline. I found myself leading with 100 metres left to 44

race. At this point, my legs were screaming in pain and I had nothing left to give. The eventual winner kicked past me with 20 yards to the finish line to take the win. Damn. Looking at it afterwards, I'd raced across to the break away and I'd finished second out of 56 starters with only 25 riders successfully finishing the race. I had never thought that I was capable of achieving second place on what is considered to be the hardest and most selective CDNW course.

I was made up.

The icing on the sticky bun was that I now had enough British Cycling License Points to attain second category racing status. All the effort and perseverance through the hiccups of the crash and the DNF's had paid off.

The last event in the CDNW Road League at Bashall Eaves was to be my first E/1/2 race.

Rolling out of race headquarters in wet weather

when you’re not in form doesn't put you in a very optimistic mood.

It was also another level up for my young legs.

I will openly admit I was in awe of some of the 'big-hitters' in this race, which meant I was a hanging on with gritted teeth near the back of the bunch. Paul Fournel says in his book VĂŠlo that you don't want to be at the front working - or at the back getting knocked off - where you want to be is safe in the middle. Unfortunately, that's just where everyone else is fighting to be.

Spinning my legs on restricted junior gears at 38mph was pretty gruelling and, as a result, I only managed to stay with the peloton for half a lap before I got dropped. Despite feeling weak, I pushed on in the wet weather, but then a puncture put an end to my last road race of the season.

It was a bit of an anti-climax to end my racing

season that way, but there had been a lot to be proud of. At the Litherland Circuit League, I'd won the third category junior league. Even more precious was that with all my results totted up, I'd also won the season-long Junior Star Trophy.

I finished eighth out of 38 riders in the Ashurst Beacon Inter-Club Hill Climb. I then finished the 2012 racing season with a good result in the Harry Middleton CC Hill Climb Competition, finishing second out of 41 riders on the dreaded Hunters Hill.

It's been an eventful first season for me with a mixture of success and failure - more success than failure in the end. I plan to come back next season, stronger, fitter and capable of winning a road race. Thankfully, the inevitable march of time towards spring, where it all starts again, has already begun and so has the winter training.

Roll on 2013.

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It’s all about the doping for Tyler

Book review

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The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton & Daniel Coyle Price: ÂŁ18.99 45

Review By Dan Kenyon

RONY. It's a funny ol' thing. Especially when Tyler Hamilton's book, The Secret Race, in which he blew the lid on doping at the US Postal Service team, has won the 2012 William Hill Sports Book of the Year award 12 years after Lance Armstrong's It's Not About The Bike scooped the same prize.

If, like me, you watched Armstrong's last winner's speech from the TDF podium in 2005 - as he admonished the world press and all those that 'can't believe in miracles' - were you asking yourself the same question I was? 'Has he really been riding clean and beaten a field of dopers for the past seven years in a row - or does he not recognise what he's done as cheating?'

Seven years later and the answer is finally here. I've read a fair few cycle books and biographies over the years and The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups and Winning at al Costs (to give it its full title) starts with the familiar gold lit groundwork: Hamilton's apple pie childhood through his first junior races to becoming a pro - but when our bright-eyed boy joins US Postal in 1995 it becomes a very dark tale indeed.

If, like me, you were still expecting a slightly cheesy "I was on a journey" routine and maybe a few self-serving recollections of reluctant pill-popping at the back of the bus with the big boys I advise you to hold onto your handlebars.

What you get is the best account yet of the whole rotten arms race of drug taking that was pro cycling in the 1990's - and into the new century.

It's a well written description of what it took - or should I say 'one took' - to compete in a sport where you had to assume that everyone around you had an unfair advantage. To keep up with www.spincyclemag.com

An insightful, honest and compelling insider's account of drug-taking in pro peloton them you either joined them or got off the bike for good.

Hamilton grew wise pretty quickly: "...For a thousand days, I'd been cheated out of my livelihood and there was no sign that things were going to get any better. So I did what many others had done before me. I joined the brotherhood".

And did he ever. Hamilton's tale makes David Miller's couple of guilty EPO sessions seem like sharing a spliff behind the bike sheds with Cindy from 5C. Hamilton gives you the whole pharmacy as it developed: how much a single testosterone pill might boost your performance for the next day, how microdoses of EPO over a stage race kept your hematocrit levels below 50 to beat the testers - and finally popping off to Valencia in a private jet with Lance and the boys to bank pints of blood in preparation for the 2000 Tour.

The science is nicely balanced with a little farce. The testers weren't just clueless about what was being taken and how - they weren't even catching people at home.

Avoiding a surprise test by lying on the floor as the tester knocked on the door was an option, and that one tester would always innocently ring up a rider in Gerona the night before to make sure there were enough 46

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riders in the city to warrant him driving over next morning.

Cue Carry On Doper scenes as riders still 'hot' with traces in their system hydrated furiously to flush out the traces of testosterone and EPO micro-doping overnight - or popped out on the bike in plain kit next morning, not to come back until after teatime.

Hamilton also recounts on one his shadowy trips to Spain - to bank blood with Dr Fuentes (of Operacion Puerto fame) spotting Vinokourov sipping coffee in a cafe near the doctor's offices and the realisation that he and Vino are using the same dodgy doctor.

Of course, this book is as much about Armstrong as Hamilton - and to his credit Hamilton holds up his hands for them both.

When asked on 60 Minutes: "Why did you dope?" Hamilton replied: "What would you have done?"

What would any of us have done in that situation? It wasn't as if Armstrong could really have chosen to win clean in the climate of the those times - especially someone as competitive as Armstrong. He was a phenomenally aggressive and talented rider.

In a clean sport against a clean field of riders, he may still have won a few Tours.

Armstrong took the decision that he didn't beat cancer and re-train for the Tour de France just to lose clean to dopers. His own ego and the growing scope of his achievement took over from there.

Hamilton says: "Lance would sooner die than admit it, but being forced to tell the truth might be the best thing that ever happened to him."

I doubt Armstrong will ever come clean: having read this book I don't need him to any more.

A few people I've talked to since Armstrong was stripped of his titles by USADA in June have said: "Who cares? Let's move on."

Armstrong has stated that he too is 'moving on'. The Secret Race moves us all on. It draws a line under the Armstrong era and reaffirms that doping hasn't gone away and it isn't going to stop evolving.

Pro cycling's growing success is only going to make the stakes higher. Let's hope the sport's governing body can employ the right people in future to oversee it, improve its testing to keep up with doping, and perhaps the sport can move on as well.

VERDICT: An insightful, honest and compelling insider's account of doping in the pro-peloton.

by ‘Wheelsucker’

...every club has ’em

No.1: The Grimpeur “Is that a compact? We never had no compacts in my day. It would be eight times over the Cat & Fiddle with a 39/21 and then a sprint finish. We’d train with sand inside the seat tube - and with woollen shorts.

The what? The Marmotte???!!! What do you want to do that for? It’s rubbish. Just for those poncy London Raffia types with their £200 shorts.

The Stelvio - now that’s what you should be doing.

The Pirate - he could climb, even if he was on funny juice. I beat him on the Gran Fondo one year.

Ventoux? I did it from Bedoin in 46 minutes in 1979 on me own...of course, this was long before your fancy computers.

The Tourmalet? That’s for amateurs, that is. Raced that both ways in 1982 - in the snow - on nothing but a bottle of pop... www.spincyclemag.com

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Next issue

We take a look at the wonderfully muddy world of cyclocross Thanks for dropping by and see you on February 1st 2013

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// KIRKBY C.C. SUPPLEMENT

All photos courtesy of the Liverpool Post & Echo

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Kirkby Cycling Club's Matthew Middleton taken in May 1992

Taken on June 29, 1984, this photo shows, left to right, John Cavanagh, Doug Dailey, Nigel Simpson

Ken Matthews, right, president of Kirkby Cycling Club, together with some of the riders who will be taking part in the sports centre charity ride during May 1992 50

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A panoramic view of the new stadium under construction at Westvale taken on July 18, 1963

A.Boardman (Molyneux RC), second from left, won the greatest number of laps in the 10 laps course de prime at the Kirkby Grand Prix meeting back in August 1966 51

Kirkby-Puch riders Kenny Loughlin, Alan Tandy and Alan Bebby after dominating the junior event during July 1981

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Kirkby-Puch Cycling Club's Nigel Simpson in action near Fold End Bungalow in Sineacre Lane, Bickerstaffe. Simpson won the British Junior Road Race Championships at Rotheram on September 18, 1983

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Members of the BCF at Kirkby stadium back in June 1966

Left to right: Nigel Simpson, John Cavanagh and Doug Dailey, who grabbed a unique treble for Kirkby CC back in June 1986.

For the second week running, Merseyside was the scene of the top amateur road race in the country - the re-vamped 50-mile Mersey Roads Club Circuit of Ashurst. Back to the normality of a six-strong field on the open road. The revised course meant eight climbs of the tough Ashurst Beacon and a fast descent down Bank Top, normally the stiffest climb on the course.

Race HQ was at the Nye Beavan Pool in Skelmersdale.

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Kirkby CC

Kevin Apter receives a victory kiss from Miss Golden Wonder, Maria Lynch, during the Golden Wonder Cycle Race back in August 1974

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In June 1984, Dave Lloyd, Wirral's multi British track record holder, may have been due to retire after announcing the shock news mid-season, but he was in action - this time on a ceremonial basis.

Dave cut the ribbon across the newly-laid Kirkby Sports Centre track to mark the start of the 1984 season. All the big names turned out, with a fair share of pro champs such as Falcon road stars Phil Thomas and Bill Nickson, as well as triple gold medal champ Terry Tinsley.

Thomas was in great form, winning two senior events with Nickson also a winner, but the amateurs were not out of it when the new sprinting star Paul McHugh edged home to win a special pro-am race

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Kirkby CC

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Mr David Tempest, leader of Knowsley Borough Council, pictured with some of the recipients at the annual prize-giving of Kirkby Cycling Club at the town's sports centre back in February 1975

Kirkby Cycling Club enjoyed their best season on the track at their Kirkby Sports Centre base landing three top titles back in September 1993. They finished as team champions to lift the Brooklands Trophy, while junior rider Michael Rumph topped the season-long points table the first junior to achieve this honour. Five year rider Tom Murphy won the prestigious Echo Epic series based on the final distance race at each of the 15 meetings. Pictured, from left to right, are the winning team of Michael Rumph, Tom Murphy and Paul Whitelaw 55

Members of the BCF in action at Kirkby stadium during June 1966

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Kirkby CC

During October 1991, the annual prize presentation of the Kirkby Cycling Club took place at the Kirkby Stadium. Pictured here are four of the main prize-winners - left to right are Andy Mills (Merseyside Road Race Champion), father and son team Mark and Howard Bolt, who won the A and B leagues in the Kirkby track season, and Ken Matthews with the Brooklands Trophy for the Kirkby Track League champion club, won by Kirkby Cycling Club 56

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ABOVE: Mr Tom Pinnington (centre) chairman of the Liverpool Mercury Club, who was guest of honour at the Kirkby Cycling Club's annual dinner and presentation back in November 1971, pictured with some of the Kirkby club's top prize winning riders. They are (left to right) Dave Lloyd, Ritchie Gregson, Billy Whiteside, Phil Thomas, John Cleworth, Dough Dailey, Phil Carnal, Alan Fairhurst and Dave Penketh

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LEFT: Former British Champion and record holder Larry Ross, 78, centre, was guest of honour at the Kirkby-Pugh Cycling Club's annual presentation evening held at the Bootle Sports Centre back in November 1983. Ross' long-standing record was broken when two of Kirkby's members received Championship trophies - the first time any club has done the 'double'. He presented Nigel Simpson, centre-left, with the British Road Race Junior Champions award, and John Cavanagh, centre-right, received the British Senior Race Championships Trophy, along with the Echo Star award. With them are some of the club's members, who received awards from the fifty trophies, which were presented along with certificates

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Kirkby CC

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Former World Champion cyclist Reg Harris cuts the tape with the help of the Mayor of Knowsley Cllr George Taylor at the newly-re-surfaced Kirkby Stadium cycle track back in August 1984

LEFT: Winning team in the International Team Time Trial over 50km in the Isle of Man (June 1971) Kirkby CC were the only team to beat France, W.Germany, Holland in new record time of 1hr10min40s

ABOVE: Members of the BCF at Kirkby Stadium in action back in June 1966

RIGHT: Dailey, Vose, Clewwarth, Gregson during the Circuit of Ashurst back in March 1973

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KIRKBY STADIUM 1964-2007