Today sees the start of the world cycling championships proper, you know, time trialling, the good stuff…

Time trials remain the backbone of competitive cycle sport in Britain. They have an historical anchor as the sport’s governing body, the progressive thinking National Cycling Union (NCU), banned mass start road racing before WW2 forcing riders to compete individually against the clock.  No really, they did.

Despite this, British riders took the discipline to their hearts and now, during the summer months, many cycling clubs will run a mid-week 10 mile time trial supplemented with much posher ‘open’ events over the weekends. A look a recent British cycling heritage will reveal many of the current crop of professional riders come from a time trialling background. Certainly Chris Boardman and Graeme Obree but also Wiggo, Alex Dowsett, David Millar et al.

You’d expect there to be certain differences between the world time trial championships and the club TT starting at 7pm up the A442 wouldn’t you? You’d be right. Here are a few of them.

1.       The world TT championships start in Florence – the home Da Vinci (well, he came from Vinci apparently but he ‘grew up’ in Florence). A centre of the Renaissance, a cultural cauldron and one of the most visited place in the world. In contrast, a club event starts at the car park of the ‘Mucky Duck’ where you can get sausage, egg and chips for £2.00 (£1.25 in week if you are on OAP) and you have to keep moving so you don’t stick to the carpet. Oh, and remember to park at the back – in case any ‘proper’ customers turn up.

2.       The riders taking part in the UCI Championship TT are the fastest cyclists in the world. They could cover 10 miles in around 18 minutes, riding at well over 30 mph emitting a massive amount of power whilst retaining a perfectly flat back and a smooth, graceful and efficient style. The club time trial will be won by the one guy who manages to dip below 24 minutes with his club mates coming in 3 to 10 minutes behind him. The final rider will get back as it gets dark. These riders will have a range of ‘styles’ from text book to ‘gorilla engaged in wrestling match with lawn mower’.  

3.       None of the smoothed legged lean professional riders will have come face to face with a tractor towing a combine harvester during their race today although this often befalls club riders, evidenced from the look of abject terror on their faces and the amount of straw sticking out of their aero helmets as they return to the finish. Similarly, it’s unlikely any of the pro’s will report being hit square in face with a half-eaten McDonalds hurled from a passing car accompanied by a hearty cry of ‘w*nker!’ and a single finger salute.   

4.       You’d expect the equipment used by amateurs thrashing up the A442 and the professionals gliding around Florence to be different and, again, you’d be right. Top of the range carbon framed, wind tunnel tested, disc wheel and power metered equipped steeds costing thousands will be present at the evening club time trial whereas many of the pro’s will be riding stuff their governing bodies have forced upon them. One of the joys of our sport is that you can (just) ride the same equipment as your heroes in the Tour de France. If you follow F1 you have no, repeat, no chance of driving an F1 car but you can (if you’ve got 14 grand to spare) ride the same bike as Brad.  

5.       Enjoyment? Surprisingly equal. In their professional careers the fleeting joy of victory (that 15 minutes before they find the next target) is tempered by the enormous pressure to perform in a vanishingly small time window before becoming too old, knackered and disillusioned. For the amateur of any age or ability, nothing compares with the unmitigated ecstasy of knocking 2 seconds off your PB or beating ‘Fast’ Eddie, your time trialling nemesis, gaining bragging rights at the post mortem in the Mucky Duck.  

6. It is unlikely any of the top pros today will be cautioned for parking on verge too close to the start line or be ‘hurrumphed’ by the time keeper for forgetting to hand their numbers back in at the end of the event. It is also doubtful they will be shouted at by a passing motorist for taking a pee in the hedge. However, to even things up, the pros will not experience that great village hall smell or get a piece of lemon drizzle cake to die for.  

If you’re between 12 and 112 and fancy a lash at time trialling, contact your local club and see when and where they are held. If you’re 12, you might be the next Brad. If your 112 you might be the next ‘Fast’ Eddie. Either way, it’s a great accessible way to get into competitive cycle sport.

…Rich Smith is a Level 3 British Cycling qualified coach, the current British, European and World Transplant Cycling champion and the author of ReCycled a funny book about cycling and less important things like life and death…

A terribly dry title for quite a jaunty update with loads of pictures about the GBTx team. For supporters, sponsors (new and existing) and all of those who have helped in so many ways, thanks, you are the full fat butter in the fluffy sponge cake of our success... 

The Great Britain Transplant cycling team have returned from the 19th World Transplant Games in Durban, South Africa with a massive haul of 19 medals including 9 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals from the time trial and road race events.

The team of 13 riders made up of 6 women and 7 men aged between 17 and 62 all of whom have had life supporting organ transplants of heart, kidney, liver or bone marrow outstripped their previous best performance from 2003 in Nancy, France where they won 11 medals.  As you can see from the picture above.... is was a pretty arduous trip with little time for rest and recuperation *coughs...*

As well as the enormous medal tally there were some important firsts for the team, the biggest ever taken to a World Games by Great Britain.  7 of the 9 gold medals were won by the girls, take a bow Beth Morris, Di Higman and Mel Slaney. Fidelma Hodkinson and Ottilie Quince both won double gold in the time trial and the road race - a truly impressive performance from the girls. On top of this, it has been a rare thing to see a heart transplant recipient medal in Games but Simon Ripley did just that picking up well deserved and hard won bronze medals in both events. A remarkable achievement. In total three riders, Fidelma (Derry, Northern Ireland), Ottilie  (Luton, Bedfordshire) and me (Bridgnorth, Shropshire) won both the road race and time trial in their age categories with Otts and I (representing Luton CC and Wrekinsport CC respectively), repeating the double victories from the last world games in Sweden in 2011.

Another mention in dispatches has to go to Gavin Giles in the 30-40 age category who put in a fantastic ride to capture a silver medal in the time trial behind the overall scratch time winner. Despite being unlucky enough to crash heavily in the road race when his front wheel was taken out in the bunch he took a bike from the neutral car and managed to complete the race despite losing a fair amount of skin in the process. He could have packed in it right there on the side of the road but, despite the bunch disappearing up the road, he chose to finish the race off. Fair play Gav. The picture shows the now famous 'scab- off at the Mug & Bean' were I got to show off my missing skin obtained the week before leaving for the games following a crash at the track. Consensus was that Gav won, but I'm not bitter... 

I was quoted in the press saying  ‘the performance of all the riders was very impressive; both our youngest and oldest riders won gold medals but pride of place must go to Ottilie. She was scheduled to have surgery to remove a tumour from her transplanted kidney a few days after her return from the games. There was a possibility she could lose her transplant, go on to dialysis and be unable to compete in the sport in which she shows so much talent. Despite this she remained focused enough to win both of her races convincingly and become the fastest female transplant cyclist in the world. Anybody looking for an athlete committed to performing at their best despite concerns and worries should look to her: she is truly inspirational. I’m pleased to say she has come through the surgery successfully, is recovering well and is looking forward to getting back on the bike’. 

We have to thank about a million people who supported us in getting us to South Africa, all those who donated on our Just Giving account, our awesome kit sponsors and all round good guys Pro Vision, in particular Steve 'Pocket Rocket' Joughin, Cycling Plus and Therakos. Special mention must go to Stuart Pickering of Cycling Direct SA, our swanny and self titled 'team bitch' who did EVERYTHING for us in Durban including lugging turbo trainers and gazebos around. He also levered mates and sponsors to help out and, simply, we could not have achieved the success we did without 'Biltong Stu'. Thanks man.

Finally, the reason we do this is to raise awareness for organ donation and transplantation. None of us would have made it to South Africa without donors, we'd be hooked up to machines or, bluntly, have been dead for many years. However, thanks to the altruism and heroism of our donors and their families we are alive to tell some tales. And trust us, we have some amazing tales to tell...
Be a hero, please join the organ donor register, then tell us!