We have had a lot of requests recently for the results from the Wattbike races at the Skyrides, we have not forgotten about updating them, but are just waiting for British Cycling to supply us with all the data that they collected.
In the mean time, here is a picture from the Leicester Skyride.
As you read Andy Bond is on his way from Land’s End to John O’Groats, a voyage which has been supported by Wattbike. The ASDA president and CEO has set up a route that takes him to 21 ASDA stores along the journey that is over 1000 miles in distance. Each of the stores is joining Andy in raising money by getting staff and customers to use Wattbikes in store and raise money for the ASDA pedal power cause and get more people out on their bikes. So keep an eye out for the Wattbikes as the ASDA stores, and see if you can beat Andy and top GB athletes.
Good luck Andy! We are sure that all the Wattbike training he has been doing over the past few months will put him in good shape for a quick trip!
Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar showing true Scottish grit during racing
Sir Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar were the Scottish Olympic medal heroes encouraging the people of Glasgow to pick up their bikes and join them around the city streets on British Cycling’s Skyride Glasgow this Sunday 23 August.
With lots of activities on offer the Wattbikes took centre stage in the busy Skyride Active area in the middle of the scenic Glasgow Green. Hundreds of people came and raced the flying 200m race on the Wattbikes to give Sir Chris and Ross a record to beat. Despite some very gallant attempts in the over-40 and under-40 categories few got close to the two Olympians. Halfway through their packed day, the crowds amassed ten deep around the Wattbike arena as the two Scottish cyclists jumped onto the Wattbikes in their shorts and jeans with celebrity TV-presenter Gethin Jones.
After just a few minutes warm up and practice, the three men challenged each other to competing over the 200m flying lap course. With a fantastic display of power and efficiency, Chris Hoy took just 9.30 seconds to cross the finishing line in first place posting a new World Wattbike record in the process! Not only was it the quickest 200m yet seen on a Wattbike, but it was at a cycling efficiency of nearly 80%, which is extremely impressive for such a short sprint!
Ross Edgar and Gethin Jones were not far behind either, but it definitely looked like the 3-times Olympic-medal winner could take that time down a touch with his next performance.
Ross Edgar and Gethin Jenkins race in behind a distinctly unsatisfied Chris Hoy
The crowds duly kept the Wattbike team very busy throughout the whole day and they were a massive hit with families, and cyclists of all ages and abilities. Take a look at the Skyride Glasgow photo album as well as the Skyride website for all details. A big well done to everyone who took part, and made such an effort. We look forward to seeing you at Skyride Leicester and Skyride London!
A group of young cyclists follow in the Olympians pedal turns
Well, that in it self is not really news. Half of us did our Sport Science degrees at Loughborough, and still know many of the people there, but this was a slightly different visit. We were demonstrating the power of the Wattbike to assist in training, rehabilitation, monitoring and of course, throwing in a few races here and there. The set up at Powerbase – Loughborough Universities conditioning suite is very good, possibly one of the best in the country, but where it does fall down is in the facilities for cardio training, with no bikes offering any quality training, some treadmills, a couple of versaclimbers and a bank of rowing machines. The rowing machines were the only pieces of kit that actually worked and were being used.
The benefits of the Wattbike were immediately appreciated, and the ability to demonstrate the polar view showing the force application from both legs caught the imagination of the guys there straight away, and a couple of peak power tests appealed to their competitive nature. Once we demonstrated the software and the ability to race they could immediately imagine how they could use the bikes in parallel with the rest of their facilities to get the most out of the athletes.
We left the Wattbike in situ over night as the following day Michelle Dillon and a couple of her athletes were coming to be introduced to the bike. They were very keen and interested in monitoring their cycle training to a higher degree, so the Wattbikes made perfect sense to them. We are looking forward to working with them in the future.
Today Alastair Brownlee produced a really solid performance at the London round of the Dextro Energy World Championship Triathlon Series to win in emphatic style. It was a key round for Brownlee as it now puts him at the top of the leaderboard for the series, but more importantly it stamps his authority on the course that will form the backbone of the course for the Triathlon at the London 2012 Olympics.
It was very interesting to see in the BBC coverage that Alastair and his younger brother Jonathan train at home in Yorkshire through all weather, which will certainly help him should the weather turn foul in London.
Congratulations again Alastair.
Written by Robin Clough, Wakefield Triathlon Club secretary
Wakefield Tri Club members getting the public started
On a sunny Saturday in July, Wakefield Triathlon Club was invited to exhibit at a 2012 Olympics connected event organised by Wakefield Council. The theme of the day was to encourage shoppers in the busy Wakefield Cathedral precinct to eat healthily and take up exercise as well as picking up life-saving tips from St John’s Ambulance. Other exhibitors included the Wakefield Wildcats who occupied the stall next to ours.
The WTC stall was manned by volunteers from the club who mingled with shoppers and handed out leaflets about the club. The centrepiece of the WTC exhibit was two Wattbike exercise bikes. The bikes are high-tech and endorsed by British Cycling (see www.wattbike.com for more details). Passers by were challenged to complete 300 metres on the bike in as quick a time as possible. Best times were displayed on a Top-Gear-like leader board and there were categories for Men, Ladies and Children.
Everyone that had a go got a swim cap, and those that broke a record were awarded a WTC T-shirt. Determined WTC triathletes competed with the public in the quest to get the fastest time of the day. Given the relatively short distance the endurance fitness of the triathletes didn’t really come in to play. In the end honours were even with a member of the public getting the men’s fastest time but Vic Burrows-Bilton managed to achieve the best ladies time of the day. Vic happened to be looking after a stall for Pugneys further down the precinct. All in all the day was a great success and certainly helped raise the profile of the club.
Many thanks to those that volunteered to help man the stall, mainly: Phil, Alison, Tony, Bill, Robin and Greg. Extra thanks to Greg who spent all day on the stall as well as helping to ferry the bike too and from Nottingham.
Wakefield Tri Club members practise at the start of the day
Last Sunday saw 5 of the Wattbike Team at the Manchester Skyride. We were working with the British Cycling membership team ably led by Terry Greenwood, the membership manager for British Cycling. The Wattbike tent was really the activity zone providing people the opportunity to try to be the best in their age group, with winners of each age group getting a signed British Cycling jersey. The day started slowly, but once the ride got going we were inundated all day, with people queueing up out through the barriers that had been errected. The best times of the day came late on when one 50 year old rider produced a 9.99s for his 200m, the only two people to beat him were Jason Kenny and Ed Clancy – who are pretty impressive.
Jason Kenny produced a 9.59s with a peak power of 1581W whilst Ed Clancy who led up to the last few metres in their race produced a 10.89s and 1340W peak power. Both of them comfortably beat Syride celebrity Gethin Jones who managed a 13.18s 200m. Gethin, however, was the favourite with the female members of the Wattbike team, especially when he came back onto the stand to commentate on a race between a few of the British Cycling staff.
Throughout the day the British Cycling stand also featured interviews with athletes, staff and coaches from British Cycling and turned up some very interviews, most notably Shane Sutton and Dave Brailsford. Vicky Pendleton was also interviewed, although the commentators seemed more interested in the fact that she had been on the cover of FHM than the fact that she has been the golden girl of British Cycling for years, although that interview did produce one of those moments when you do not know quite where to look when the interviewer introduced VickyP…..FHM cover girl but not as hot as Megan Fox! Not sure he could believe he had just said that, but Vicky took it in her stride.
The other quote of the day was from Jason Kenny. When asked what his favourite bike was, he responded “My facourite bike is a Wattbike”. Sounds like someone is looking for a freebee.
