Clemitson Suze - P is for peloton: an A-Z of cycling

BLOOMSBURY SPORT

An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

www.bloomsbury.com

Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published 2015

Suze Clemitson and Mark Fairhurst, 2015 Illustrations Mark Fairhurst, 2015

Suze Clemitson and Mark Fairhurst have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 , to be identified as Author and Illustrator of this work.

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for.

To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com. Here you will find extracts, author interviews, details of forthcoming events and the option to sign up for our newsletters.

EVER SINCE THE FIRST TOUR DE FRANCE, CYCLE RACING has captured the imagination of millions of people. The drama, passion, pain and glory has been the stuff of legends.

The beauty of cycling is that it knows no barriers. Its classless. Whether you ride a second-hand bicycle or the latest machine featuring the pinnacle in technical development, you are part of an ever-expanding movement that is ecologically low impact and good for you.

It inspires.

Mark Fairhursts art carries that inspiration. Humorous, thought-provoking, encouraging; his work in this book is a joy to see and have.

Remember, P is for Peloton. Get on your bike and RIDE!

Sir Dave Brailsford

TEAM PRINCIPAL, TEAM SKY

AIS FOR

ARRIVE

YOU SAYA (as in apple) REE VAY (rhymes with say)

WHAT IT MEANS Lets start at the finish Arrive is the French word for the finish line of a race, usually marked by a giant inflatable archway. In 2013 , the Orica-Greenedge team bus managed to get wedged underneath the finish line at the Tour de France but the arrive is usually the stage for a rider to cross the finish line and throw their arms aloft in the traditional V of victory.

ABANDON

When a rider is forced to climb off his bike during a race because of illness or injury, he abandons and may end up in the broom wagon ().

AERODYNAMICS

A cyclists greatest enemy is wind (no, not that kind). In order to cut through the air with maximum efficiency you need to be as aerodynamic as possible in order to reduce the drag effect that wind creates. Even though you feel youre moving forward, wind drag is always pulling you backwards. Minimising drag is the key for making a cyclist go faster, and cycling teams often spend a significant amount of money sending riders into wind tunnels to measure how aerodynamic they are. There are several key factors to making a cyclist more aerodynamically efficient:

Clothing Team Sky have popularised the use of skinsuits for time trials, where aerodynamics are of huge importance, with individual cyclists riding alone against the clock, with no rider or peloton in front to take the brunt of the wind. Imagine going swimming fully clothed and the effort you need to expend to get through the water; the same is true of a cyclist passing through air; if less immediately appreciable. This is the reason cyclists wear clothing thats as streamlined and form-fitting as possible.

Aero bars and helmet aero bars protrude straight out from the front of the bike and you can rest your entire forearm on them and lie flatter on the bike, which helps to shrink the wall your body presents to the wind in front: less wind slams into your body, and more flows over. Aero helmets work by smoothing the shape your head makes and improving airflow around it and make a significant time saving in a time trial a small price for looking like an alien.

Position this is the biggest single factor in the rider-plus-bike-versus-wind equation, as a cyclists body accounts for per cent of drag. The bigger you are, the higher that percentage goes, which is why so many of todays professional cyclists are so skinny, giving them a far better power to weight ratio and better aerodynamics. The rule is: the flatter you can get on the bike, the better. Get into a good aerodynamic tuck and youll scythe through the air like a Cavendish or a Wiggins or youll go faster, anyway.

BLUFF FACT In the decisive time trial at the end of the 1989 Tour de France, Greg LeMond used aero bars and an aero helmet. If Laurent Fignon had worn a cap he would have won the Tour.

ALLEZ!

YOU SAY AL (rhyme with pal) AY (rhymes with hey!)

WHAT IT MEANS Go! Come on! Allez is the universal expression of cycling encouragement, shouted from French roadsides since 1868 when Englishman James Moore won a 1200 -metre race on May 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris. Equivalents include vai in Italian and venga in Spanish. Somewhat bizarrely, the Dutch and Belgian fans shout hop at their riders.

CLIMB

ALPE DHUEZ

YOU SAY ALP DOO EZ (rhymes with fez)

ALTITUDE 1850 metres

HEIGHT GAIN