This just caught my eye when looking through past emails……
Name check for Wattbike as well!
Skyride Leicester
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.
Sir Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar do battle on the Wattbikes at Skyride Glasgow
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
Wattbike at the Manchester Skyride
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.
Wattbike, Sky and British Cycling
We seem to have chosen the hottest days of the year to go to London in the last couple of weeks, although it was well worth while as it was to meet with British Cycling and Sky and discuss their involvement with cycling and where Wattbike fits into “the landscape”. Our meeting with Sky was related to the up and coming Skyrides and took place at their offices. I was officially quite excited to see what it would be like, but it was just another office building, with a few small changes – it is massive (not unexpected), the Simpsons can be found lounging on their sofa in the waiting area of reception – which I have to admit I did not notice straight away even though I was sat opposite them, and there are a few huge SKY HD ads painted onto the walls – you might come round a corner and be face to face with Spiderman! The meeting was very interesting and I know have more of an understanding of the Skyrides which should really engage people in cycling in the 5 cities (Manchester, London, Leicester, Glasgow and Hounslow). We were looking at providing a Wattbike experience stand at each of the events to provide people with the opportunity to have a go on a Wattbike and pit themselves against the best in the country.
The meeting with British Cycling was in less exciting circumstances, but was equally worthwile with us planning how we can help them to develop indoor cycling, to enable them to maintain the growth in people cycling all the way through the winter.
Sky launch Skyride with a Wattbike Race
Ben was at the launch of Skyride yesterday running a number of small races on the Wattbikes, including a race between Gethin Jones and Victoria Pendleton. Sky are the main sponsors of British Cycling and have embarked on the Skyride project to engage over 1million more people in cycling, starting with their own staff and encouraging more people to cycle more often. They have announced an activity packed summer with rides in Manchester, Glasgow, Leicester and London – see the press release: Sky Gets Britain Back on the Bike
Vicky Pendleton vs Gethin Jones
Getting 1million more people to ride is certainly an ambitious target, but if there was ever a time to do it now must be that time. Obesity is reaching all time highs, we are in the build up to London 2012 and British Cycling are THE golden sport at the moment with an unprecidented winning record in Beijing. I hope that as the summer draws to a close we can keep people engaged in cycling as the winter draws in.