Simon Jobson - Ultra-Distance Cycling

Bloomsbury Sport

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This electronic edition published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in 2017

Simon Jobson and Dominic Irvine

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Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Authors of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

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

ISBN: 978-1-4729-1987-8 (PB)

ISBN: 978-1-4729-1989-2 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-4729-1988-5 (ePDF)

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CONTENTS

To Helene and Chle, my rock and my inspiration Dominic

For Lizzie, my best friend and future wife Simon

FOREWORD

At Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka our mission goes beyond winning bike races to creating a legacy that has inexorably changed peoples lives for the good. Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means to carry on, to progress, to move forward. The charity rewards work done by people in Africa with the gift of a bike. As a child, you will remember the freedom made possible by being able to ride a bike. We are using the power of an elite cycle racing team to change the world as well as to win races. Simon Jobson and Dominic Irvine reflect this altruistic approach in writing this book. Having invested five years of time and energy attempting and succeeding in breaking a 49-year-old ultra-distance cycling record that had defeated several Olympians, they have then taken the time to distil the lessons learnt and share them with the cycling community in order for others to succeed at their own ultra-distance goal.

To break a cycling record at the age of 47 meant Dominic Irvine had to challenge the accepted wisdom of the day in order to achieve what many thought impossible. As his coach, Simon Jobson left no stone unturned in his quest to help Dominic and his tandem riding partner Charlie Mitchell reach the level of performance needed to set a new cycling record. Helping ordinary people achieve extraordinary results is a core philosophy of my teams approach to cycling. It has led to several historical achievements including Daniel Teklehaimanot becoming the first Eritrean, and indeed African, to wear the polka-dot jersey on the Tour de France. This is a stepping stone in our ambition to put an African rider on the podium in the Tour de France.

For me, success in cycling is the culmination of having the right process, the right tools and the right people. It requires athletes and indeed all members of the team to think in terms of a whole system. The chapter headings in this book provide a neat summary of all the areas involved. Its not enough to be fit enough. You also need to create a compelling vision, generate a sense of team, develop a high-performance culture with those involved and know how to translate this into value for others to secure their support and investment. It doesnt matter whether you are about to compete in your first ultra-distance race or organise a team for a world tour, the principles that underpin both are the same. This book ably covers the key points.

But perhaps the greatest skill is the ability to translate complexity into usable, practical information. In this, Simon Jobson and Dominic Irvine have excelled themselves. They have, to paraphrase Einstein (as the authors do), made things as simple as possible but no simpler. So whether you are embarking upon your first century ride or first 1,000km ride, this book is essential reading. Its something I shall be encouraging the members of our team to read.

Douglas Ryder
Team Principal, Dimension Data for Qhubeka