Rob Hayles - Easy Rider: My Life on a Bike

Rob Hayles has been at the heart of British cycling for the past twenty years. But his path to becoming a double world champion and Olympic medallist was quite unlike the meticulously planned trajectory of todays young cycling talent. When Rob first turned up for international duty, it was with his own bike, a hand-me-down GB skinsuit and no hope of finishing anywhere near a podium.

In Easy Rider, Rob charts his life on a bike from his early years racing around windswept velodromes (if it wasnt raining) to partnering Mark Cavendish to his first world title gold in the Madison in 2005. As the nations leading pursuiter, Rob oversaw the emergence of his heir apparent, Bradley Wiggins, then witnessed first-hand the rise and fall of David Millar in three ill-fated years as a road professional.

Through it all, Rob never lost his deep-rooted hunger for the thrill of the chase have bike, will race was his motto. Told with his characteristic charm, humour and passion for the sport which became his life, Easy Rider is a must-read memoir by one of the most popular and cherished figures in our cycling history.

Contents

with Lionel Birnie

To my dad, John, thanks for introducing me into the great world of cycling, and my mum, Mary, for allowing him to take me away on so many weekends in those early years.

To all the hard-working members of staff at British Cycling and UK Sport for helping us athletes to reach our potential.

A big thanks to all my teammates from all those years, for giving me so many memories and stories with most of them being good ones!

To the new generation of British bike riders for upping the ante, and continuing with the legacy of cycling in Great Britain.

Thanks to Giles Elliott at Transworld Publishers for keeping me on my toes during the writing process, and to Kate Green for publicity.

And Lionel Birnie, without whose help and enthusiasm this book would never have come about.

Finally, to my amazing wife Victoria. For all of her support in life, and our beautiful children Madeleine and Fergus, and for helping me to put things into perspective.

Its only sport, after all.

It isnt easy in life to find someone that everybody likes. Such people are even more rare in the world of elite sport, where the selfish gene can come to the fore when the pressure of competition begins to take over. But Rob Hayles is one of the few. In victory and defeat, at times of triumph and disaster, Rob is the same guy. Theres no side to him.

From the day I first walked into Manchester velodrome to train with the British Cycling Academy squad, Rob was there. Like Sir Chris Hoy, he was in on the ground floor of the sports revolution in this country. He was one of the people that British Cycling grew up around.

We looked up to those guys not just because they had won medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships but because of the example they set. Id watched Rob in the track centre during training sessions and marvelled at his ability to strike that tricky balance between appearing relaxed yet remaining focused at the same time.

Because hes so laid back, it would be easy to assume that hes not bothered by things, that he doesnt get worked up about the little stuff. But that would be a mistake because he cares. Deeply.

Thats perhaps one of the reasons we get on so well. Outwardly we appear quite different hes always calm and Im, well I have my moments, you could say. Inwardly, we have the same eye for detail, the same desire to improve the small things. And we were both born to race. Pin a number on Robs back now and hed turn himself inside out to get over the line first.

One of the big lessons young riders could learn from Rob is about taking personal responsibility. The closer to the top of the sport a rider gets, the more people there are to look after the details for you. Obviously, thats fantastic because it leaves you free to concentrate on the important things racing and training.

Rob had to be self-sufficient when he was starting out because there wasnt the level of support for him that young riders in Britain enjoy today. If he had to, he could build his bike from scratch. Some of the lads today struggle to fix a puncture.

Sometimes he shakes his head and smiles to himself. Sometimes he points out that we dont know were born and that it was a lot harder in his day.

But he inspires something in people that makes them want to be the best they can be.

In 2005, I won my first World Championship title with Rob. It was in the Madison on the track in Los Angeles. Id never ridden the World Championships before and was still getting to grips with what it was all about. But I desperately wanted to win.

Rob has a knack of taking the pressure out of a situation, putting everything into context, with a few simple words.

Its bike racing. Just do your best. But when we get off that track, lets make sure we have no regrets.

In that race I was so desperate not to let him down, not because I was worried about disappointing him, not at all, but he made me want to do my best for him and for myself.

These days hes one of the people who supports me, keeping an eye on the details so I can concentrate on my training. I trust him completely.

And when Im getting het up about something, hes always got those simple words to diffuse the situation.

Hey, its bike racing. Just do your best.

Copenhagen, 25 September 2011. A few minutes after we came off air, I left the commentary box with Simon Brotherton and we walked down the finishing straight where Mark Cavendish had won the World Championship title, the gold medal and the iconic rainbow jersey half an hour or so before. All the hullabaloo had died down and most of the spectators had drifted away, but after hours cooped up in a stuffy commentary box, trying to keep the late-summer sun off our tiny screen, I wanted to stretch my legs and soak up the atmosphere that continued to crackle in the air.

As Simon and I reached the finish line, which stretched across the road, we stopped and looked down. I moved over to the right-hand side of the road, roughly where Cavendish had crossed the line ahead of the rest of the worlds best cyclists, and knew what I had to do.

I knelt down and peeled the plastic tape up from the tarmac, tore off a foot-long strip and, rolling it up, slipped it into my back pocket. It would make the ultimate souvenir.

When I got home from Copenhagen, I trimmed the edges to neaten it up, and went to an art supplies shop to buy some board. Then I mixed up some paint to get the right, matching shade of grey, and stuck the section of finishing line to it. Then I called Simon to get a copy of his commentary from BBC Radio Five Lives broadcast. Although Id been sitting next to him, Id been so caught up in the emotion of that afternoon that I couldnt remember a word hed said.

Carefully, I transcribed the commentary, typed it up and printed it out on a piece of card.

Cavendish goes for gold and hes got it. He dug deep. He delivered. Its gold for Great Britain, gold for Mark Cavendish. He IS the world champion.

I had the whole thing framed, then I wrapped it up and gave it to Cav for Christmas.

Oh, man, its fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I cant believe you thought to do that for me. Thanks.

A winters day on the Isle of Man. Its bleak but beautiful in its own way. Mark Cavendish is training, logging the unseen miles for the coming season. Today well do five hours and tomorrow well do the same again. Just me, Cav and the cold.