Smokin_Joe
Reged: 09/06/2006
Posts: 1678
Loc: Fishguard
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Quote:
So where would they get that "THINK" though from
Sales figures?
I can remember the biggest complaint about CW in the seventies was that it gave too much coverage to time trials.
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Nobody ever got laid because they rode Shimano.
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thatwomanagain
Reged: 30/07/2006
Posts: 1959
Loc: Hugh Porter country...
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The problem with 'testing' is that it's not really a spectator sport so unless you're personally involved in it you can't really follow it or understand it. I mean who wants to stand alongside a busy dual carriageway at 6am on a Sunday morning??
Then when it's discussed in the comic it's at a level that supposes that the reader is either a participant, or otherwise born with an inherent knowledge of the rules and concept.
So I'm going to be brave, display my ignorance, and ask questions -
What's the difference between testing and time-trials?
What's the difference between the National 10s, 25, 50s etc and the National Time Trial Championships held in September??
If Hutch is unbeatable in the 10", 25" and 50" why isn't he unbeatable in the National Time-Trial Championships too? 
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cliff
Reged: 03/03/2007
Posts: 60
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Lionel wrote
"I don't wish to pour oil on the flames, but in what way do you consider all the freely available content on this website? Is it not possible to see the magazine and the site as working in tandem? "
Thats fine, I must have missed the write up on the following
Anfield 100
Burton 100
National 50
Please direct me to the said articles. I am very interested to read what Andy Basons comments were after smashing Lloydy's Anfield record and did he comment on the close call for his second place in the National 50.
Please copy and paste me to the links
Thanks for your help
S
Lloydy's record's gone?! I didn't even know about it, thanks to the lack of write-up in the Comic  I remember how exciting it seemed when Lloyd set the record - back in the days of Cammish with his 'Lloyd-beater' T-shirt.
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Rocco
Reged: 20/12/2007
Posts: 20
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if time trialling is one's preferred branch of cycling then buying Cycling Weekly is utterly pointless
if however you like reading a magazine that has been prepared months in advance bar a couple of pages then it's ideal, rather like the Sunday supplements it could have been put together anytime in the past few years, same anonymous cyclists photographed, same Assos caps for £150 reviewed, same carrots are good for, same ride your bike and you'll get fitter, the good thing is you only have to buy it once then change the date on the front cover with a pencil as each week passes
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wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 1495
Loc: Man of Kent
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Testing is another word for time trialling, they are the same thing.
The Time Trial Championship is The BC competition (ie. UCI rules). The winner gets to wear the national champions jersey at the Tour de France Time Trials, for example(assuming they're there}
As for Hutch, there is a debate that could be had, the BC course is rarely a standard time-trialling distance (10,25,50) and is usually more hilly and twisty than a standard TT. Dave Millar etc. turn up for it because they want the jersey, whereas there is not much for them to gain by winning a CTT event.
Hope that helps a bit. 
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Invicta
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aphextwin
Reged: 13/06/2006
Posts: 832
Loc: pH 0.1
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Dave Millar etc. turn up for it because they want the jersey, whereas there is not much for them to gain by winning a CTT event.
What! Who *wouldn't* want one of those stunning gold CTT champions' caps? 
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The drukqs don't work
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wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 1495
Loc: Man of Kent
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I have never been to a Champions Night. Are they the glittering, oscar style, presentations I imagine?
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Invicta
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thatwomanagain
Reged: 30/07/2006
Posts: 1959
Loc: Hugh Porter country...
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Quote:
As for Hutch, there is a debate that could be had, the BC course is rarely a standard time-trialling distance (10,25,50) and is usually more hilly and twisty than a standard TT. Dave Millar etc. turn up for it because they want the jersey, whereas there is not much for them to gain by winning a CTT event.
Hope that helps a bit.
Yes, thanks. So what is the customary distance for the National Time-Trials championship?? I note that in the other countries of Europe the National TT champs have taken place this week, alongside the National road race comps. In fact the the entire week seems to have taken on some kind of Biblical aura - 'and in the 3rd week of June every rider shall return, each to his own country'.
But here the National TTs comp is taking place in September, running the risk of being overlooked. Any good reason for this??
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Smokin_Joe
Reged: 09/06/2006
Posts: 1678
Loc: Fishguard
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Probably because BC need to avoid clashing with it's own road championships and all the CTT nationals that are taking place at the moment. To attract a decent field they then need to wait till after the TdF and the Olympics.
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Nobody ever got laid because they rode Shimano.
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fizban
Reged: 15/09/2007
Posts: 375
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Now I'm confused if the National TTs are in September, what's Huch just won (again)?
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Grow your own dope, plant Stefan Schumacher.
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thatwomanagain
Reged: 30/07/2006
Posts: 1959
Loc: Hugh Porter country...
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Quote:
Now I'm confused if the National TTs are in September, what's Huch just won (again)?
The 50 something-or-other I think.
Maybe that's why testing is losing its popularity. It's become a bit of a secret society, outside the mainstream of cycling.
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Smokin_Joe
Reged: 09/06/2006
Posts: 1678
Loc: Fishguard
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Quote:
Quote:
Maybe that's why testing is losing its popularity. It's become a bit of a secret society, outside the mainstream of cycling.
Time trialing started off as a secret society so as not to annoy the police. Riders were required to dress in black, no numbers were worn and start sheets were sent out in envelopes bearing the phrase "Private and Confidential".
It wasn't till the fifties that things loosened up a bit.
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Nobody ever got laid because they rode Shimano.
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wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 1495
Loc: Man of Kent
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Yhere is history involved as Smokin Joe says.
The RTTC (Road Time Trials Council) set up road racing in England(not sure about the whole of the UK) back in the 1930s.
The reason was it was essentially illegal to race on the roads. A massed start event was obviously easy to "detect" by the local coppers, but people turning up at 1 minute intervals, and just riding along the road were hard to prove they were riding a race
In Britain, where this was essentially unique, we developed a two tier system, the RTTC promoted time trials, and the BCF (or its forerunner,(ask an expert)) only promoted on tracks.
As with all history, imagine rugby League and Rugby Union, for example, they developed into slightly different organisations.
When, in the 90s, the BCF started running a Time Trial Championship because the UCI made them, they were sensitive to not invade the RTTC territory.
Things have sort of remained the same since.
The CTT are much more open nowadays, The Q10/30 near me was called the Reculver course for at least a year, but now seems to have returned to being Q10/30.
BC E/1/2/3/4 etc. is no more obvious until you find out what it means. I don't think testing is likely to die out soon.
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Invicta
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pete_the_bike
Reged: 28/05/2007
Posts: 40
Loc: Newtonmore Scotland
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I do think the magasine has lost the plot a bit. 'Hutch' did a great ride in the National 50 with a very fast time. Surely this would have warranted more than just the bare bones of a result. The ride was mentioned in the editorial so I then looked for the race report, no luck. I'm interested in all aspects of cycling not just the pro-racing scene. Cycling weekly seems to become more and more like Cycle Sport every week. While I am few other questions;
1. Why are the almost no pictures of race winners on the front cover, instead we get anonymous cyclists looking vaguely cool. Presumably they are staffers testing bikes. I can think of one week in particular when ‘Cav’ won an important race, why wasn’t he on the front cover
2. Who on earth can afford all these £2000++ bikes that are lovingly tested in the Alps (maybe the testers could go and report on a few races instead)?
3. Just how much training advice do we need, maybe some of this copy space could be given up to reporting races. Yes, I agree bananas and carrots are good for me but I don’t need to be told week after week.
4. If cycling Weekly is to reflect the cycling scene in Britain and Europe why are there no reports of Sportive Events. Five hundred riders ride the Bealach Beag in the Scottish Highlands and nearly 2000 riders ride the Etape Caledonia. The fastest riders in these events are producing athletic performances on a par with any top road race. Yet these events received not a mention after they had taken place.A short report on each event round the country would be interesting.
My Dad was a life long cyclist and reader of Cycling, he regularly used t say to me, “load of rubbish, I don’t know why I buy it” but he never stopped his subscription, in fact I took it over after his death. I suppose it’s now my turn to say the same now but I do think a long hard look is needed at the magasines content. 
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growing old is no more than a bad habit, which a busy person has no time for.
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wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 1495
Loc: Man of Kent
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1. God knows why we mostly have the androids, probably to do with deadlines, and to compete with Cycling Plus. Cavendish has been on the cover recently, the only pro to do so for a long time. Do you buy every week?
2. I don't know, I suppose its bike porn.
3. I agree
4. There are endless reports of sportive events. I am bored with them. I don't remember Audax or the CTC being covered in such detail. Incidentally there was a recent ride on Ascencion (or was it St Helena) reported recently for no obvious reason.(Maybe Pitcairn next time)
I want race stuff, and news stuff, a la Keith Bingham, and a small bit of tech and training, in case anything genuienly new comes up.
And Dr Hutch or Tony Bell, some humour is good (even Grapevine). Even Helms is worth looking at.
Maybe the comic is not trying to persuade me to buy.
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Invicta
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Sly
Reged: 07/02/2008
Posts: 730
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I'm not sure CW knows what it wants to be. I am probably different to most here in that the racing reports / results don't hold even the slightest interest to me (I have a TV and internet for watching and following the events I want to see). I am more into the participation aspect of cycling, so Cycling Plus is a far better choice of read for me. Perhaps CW should fall on one side of the fence or the other rather than not quite appeal to either neighbour?
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Smokin_Joe
Reged: 09/06/2006
Posts: 1678
Loc: Fishguard
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I'd rather see racers on the cover than annonymous riders, but I do remember CW saying that sales were higher when the latter were featured on the front.
I would love more tech reports, though my pocket wouldn't
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Nobody ever got laid because they rode Shimano.
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wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 1495
Loc: Man of Kent
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That is the problem with tech reports, I've got no money. The other thing is if Indurain can win on eight gears then what are we worrying about.
The comic is really becoming like Marie-Claire, 103 things to do this week in a massive 164 page issue, by Christmas there will be 343 things to do this week and make Christmas more fun for all the family. Keith Bingham, watch out.
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Invicta
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Smokin_Joe
Reged: 09/06/2006
Posts: 1678
Loc: Fishguard
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Quote:
That is the problem with tech reports, I've got no money. The other thing is if Indurain can win on eight gears then what are we worrying about.
Merckx won with five gears, a steel frame and no aero aids. But if he was riding now he would be on 11, carbon fibre, and spending months in a wind tunnel.
Progress.
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Nobody ever got laid because they rode Shimano.
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cliff
Reged: 03/03/2007
Posts: 60
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Quote:
I do think the magasine has lost the plot a bit. 'Hutch' did a great ride in the National 50 with a very fast time. Surely this would have warranted more than just the bare bones of a result. The ride was mentioned in the editorial so I then looked for the race report, no luck. I'm interested in all aspects of cycling not just the pro-racing scene. Cycling weekly seems to become more and more like Cycle Sport every week. While I am few other questions;
1. Why are the almost no pictures of race winners on the front cover, instead we get anonymous cyclists looking vaguely cool. Presumably they are staffers testing bikes. I can think of one week in particular when ‘Cav’ won an important race, why wasn’t he on the front cover
2. Who on earth can afford all these £2000++ bikes that are lovingly tested in the Alps (maybe the testers could go and report on a few races instead)?
3. Just how much training advice do we need, maybe some of this copy space could be given up to reporting races. Yes, I agree bananas and carrots are good for me but I don’t need to be told week after week.
4. If cycling Weekly is to reflect the cycling scene in Britain and Europe why are there no reports of Sportive Events. Five hundred riders ride the Bealach Beag in the Scottish Highlands and nearly 2000 riders ride the Etape Caledonia. The fastest riders in these events are producing athletic performances on a par with any top road race. Yet these events received not a mention after they had taken place.A short report on each event round the country would be interesting.
My Dad was a life long cyclist and reader of Cycling, he regularly used t say to me, “load of rubbish, I don’t know why I buy it” but he never stopped his subscription, in fact I took it over after his death. I suppose it’s now my turn to say the same now but I do think a long hard look is needed at the magasines content.
Given the number of times that questions like these are asked here, I wish that someone who actually works for the Comic would give us some definitive answers. I don't think that they're unreasonable questions! For example, there used to be a big photo of a race winner on the cover each week, so clearly someone's made a decision to stop doing that.
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