cee dubyah rides again

The date is the 12th September 2010. Its almost two months to the day that one of my favourite professional cyclists did the unimaginable. Through no fault of his own he abandoned the Tour de France. Charlie Wegelius was unwell and couldn't continue in the 2010 Tour de France. I was gob-smacked, shocked and stunned. Charlie? Pulling out? NEVER! "He's a hard man! A Super high-mountain domestique! A Legend! He would never pull out" I found myself saying. Alas, it was true. Charlie has since eloquently publicised in his blog ( http://blog.canyon.com/?cat=128&lang=en )his illness and subsequent recovery. Unfortunately I am not so eloquent. I was f**king stunned that one of the greatest, hardest working domestiques in the last decade was unwell. So unwell that it could end his career. As a life long fan of cycling, it shook my very core. The last I remember being this upset about cycling was when the great Marco Pantani was snatched from us. In one of my previous posts, I wrote about my love for the cyclists that don't win but bury themselves for others. It is cyclists like Charlie Wegelius that allow people like Phillipe Gilbert or Jurgen Van den Broeck to shine. It is because of Charlie the Omega Pharma Lotto team are so strong in the mountains. I honestly felt this was the end.

On Friday 10th September 2010, I was sat watching the entire GP de Quebec. Screaming at the TV every time I saw a 'Lotto' jersey. Charlie was back. I hardly caught a glimpse of him. But the start sheet said he was there. The big 'cee dubyah' was back and riding with fire in his belly again. The GP de Quebec is a very hard circuit race over 186km. Nothing like coming back with a tough race then? It was eventually won by another of my favourite riders - the very exciting Thomas Voekler. 'Lotto's' Staf Scheirlinckx romped home in fifth. Charlie? A very credible 84th and only 2 min 9 sec down. After the very public withdrawl and publicised illness, it was fabulous to see Charlie racing again. I knew in my heart, deep down that he would rise like a mythical pheonix and light up cycling again.

And through-out his illness,when he was trying to get well again, he still has time for his fans. Pictured above is a signed Omega Pharma Lotto jersey which I will be auctioning for the Children's Liver Disease Foundation.

Yes Charlie Wegelius is definately one of professional cyclings great men.

Charlie is well and truly back. Welcome back and very well done big guy! roll on 2011?

The Professor - my tribute

Laurent Fignon (12 August 1960 - 31 August 2010)

My beard and me

Four years now I have had a beard. Its been wooly and its been designer stubble. Its been a goatee and and its been Amish. At the moment it is full and its fluffy. I'm aiming to grow it to a full on grizzly beard and maybe trim in some funny shapes or a handle bar moustach.

This got me thinking. You dont see many sports men and in particular cyclists sporting face fur. The only ones i could think of were Sean Eadie and Steve Cozza in recent years. Dave Zabriskie - Captain America himself has been known to sport some unfortunate ginger face fungus now and then. Go back to the beginning of the 20th century, and virtually every man in society had a cracking soup strainer on his top lip.

Its odd how fashions dictate the growth of facial hair. Its became a lot more common for men to have beards recently and this have been seen in the other sport I love - rugby. virtually every team at the last rugby world cup had a beard in the squad. The most fearsome had to be Sebastien Chabal.

So today, lets cheer the beard and welcome those little treats of food we find hiding in it after we've eaten.

Tour of the Resevoir

Fabian Cancellara

Lets go clubbing

Among my cycling buddies, there has been a lot of chatter about cycling clubs. Are you in one? I'm not. Never have been never will be. I think it comes from riding out with a cycling club and being tortured sneered at and the subsequently dropped. From talking to friends its absolutely astonishing that so many people have experienced the same thing. And, with different clubs. So you cant say its just the one club. Why do they feel the need to humiliate and destroy new comers.

What we have found out is that this means there is an opening for a cycle club that actually looks after its new members and openly encourages new comers - even if they turn up on a £200 argos special. Surely the important thing is to enjoy cycling. the old club ways should be banished and made way for riding the way we do it. @to the cake shop and back'

True there are occasions when we put the hammer down, but only when everyone is up to it. and true we dick about a lot. but what we do the most, is enjoy every minute of being on our bikes.

If you would like to ride out with me and my friends on a regular basis be it at 8mph or 18mph drop me a line here on on twitter via @hardboiled2006