Cycling Weekly will have a rider blogging from every round of this year's Johnson Health Tech GP Series, offering insight, comment and humour from the fast-paced proceedings.

This week, 2012 Series champion Annie Simpson (Hope Factory Racing) talks us through some of the upsides and downsides of being part of a women's team with a men's squad running alongside it.

"Pretty much everything we have on the team is shared between the men's and women's squads, be it sets of wheels or rollers to warm up before the race. During the rest of the season we often don't get a team car, for example during the women's national series road races, but the support we get at the Grand Prix Series and Tour Series is the same.

"We [the women's team] probably benefit more from the arrangement. It means we always have a mechanic at the races which is really important. 

"The only downside is that with joint teams the manager usually misses out on the women's race because the briefing for the men's event is held at the same time. Our manager Lee couldn't make it to the women's race in time to see us race. 

"It also means we don't have a manager standing on the side of the road during the race. We have a mechanic, but it is good to have a manager figure standing there, psychologically as much as having instructions shouted at us.

"I know they [the organisation] try to make the two races separate events, but the women's race does feel like the warm-up race to the Tour Series.

"I think it would help to have a bit more clarity in the women's series. It's clear with the men's races that it is a team event but in the women's series it can be hard to know which standings are important. Often the individual jersey wearers get the limelight but there is no mention of the team, even though they are just as important.

"Actually, I wouldn't want a women's race at all the rounds. A lot of the women have day jobs so I'm not sure you'd get full fields at every race, plus there is a lot more going on in the women's calendar in between the Grand Prix rounds. Until you have full-time women riders then realistically you aren't going to have enough support. 

"I think that combined teams will help women's racing and help bring the women's scene along, especially if the women's team isn't just a tag along with the men's squad because the team feel like they have to. Actually, MG-Maxifuel [the only other combined team-Ed.] are arguably outshining and outperforming the men's squad!"

Related links
Metaltek-Knights of Old take first Tour Series win in Redditch
Johnson Health Tech GP Series blog: Hannah Barnes in Colchester
Johnson Health Tech GP Series blog: Louise Mahe in Stoke-on-Trent
Pearl Izumi Tour Series 2013: Coverage index

I was doing some five-minute training efforts last week. I'm quite good at these, not least because in an effort to boost my morale I use all the aero kit I can find - TT bike, disc wheel, skinsuit, the works.

I get kitted up, then go and thunder along a nice flat road with a good big number on the power meter. It's relevant here that the number is usually quite a lot of the way to 500 watts.

Last week, as I was in the midst of the full Wiggins, someone overtook me. He was, at least, wearing cycling kit rather than jeans. But there was still a deeply troubling air of the commuter about him - a waterproof jacket, a large saddle pack.

He eased away up the road, without apparently suffering the heart attack he so clearly deserved, until he passed from sight.

I suspect he has no idea how good he is. He probably thinks he's normal, and wonders why so many people on nice bikes ride so slowly. I could have told him, of course, and encouraged him to start entering a few local races, but firstly I couldn't have caught him, and secondly I'm not an idiot.

There's a third reason too. Just because he's good at cycling is no reason to assume he'd like to take it more seriously.

I have evidence for this. A few months ago I interviewed Sir Dave Brailsford. We got on to the issues of talent-searching - the British Cycling Talent Team found riders like Joanna Rowsell and Dani King by testing them at their schools.

Despite this, Sir Dave said that the problem with most talent searches was that while they could find people who had all physical gifts required to be great riders, they often didn't have the required mindset. They'd shine brightly for a year, then fall away from the sport because despite their talent, the lifestyle wasn't for them.

Sociopath to success
It's unlike BC to miss a trick, but it seems that the solution to this problem is to broaden the talent search criteria. Let us reflect for a moment on some of the reasons someone might not like the pro cycling lifestyle.

People who like to go out a lot often struggle with the consequences of being an athlete. If Friday or Saturday night out is a fundamental part of what someone does, then dedication to cycling isn't going to fit. So clearly the first requirement is that the candidate be some sort of mild-to-moderate sociopath. Not necessarily violent (though it's probably not a deal-breaker), but someone for whom the rest of society is basically the enemy.

Jailbait
Another frequent reason for disillusionment is food. Those who are used to dining well tend to struggle rather with the idea that lunch from now on will consist of something with a texture not entirely unadjacent to wallpaper paste that you squirt into your mouth from a foil tube. A successful talent search needs to focus on those who eat terrible food and won't miss it.

While it may be very satisfying, there's no denying that serious training is, at a fundamental level, pretty dull. It takes hours every day. It's repetitive, stressful, and often lonely. The ideal candidate for pro cycling will not be someone with a vibrant and exciting lifestyle. Rather it will be someone who's already very bored.

The logic is inescapable. We need sociopaths with terrible diets who have nothing to do with their lives but sit around counting off the days. Schools, filled as they are with young people with vibrant social lives and access to a wide range of restaurants, are a terrible place to go looking for the future stars. The Talent Team should have been looking in prisons.

Finding GB's Olympic team for Rio 2016 is going to be a piece of cake.

How to... Decide if something needs replacing
Almost everything on a bicycle will eventually need replacing. It is wise to express great sadness about this to anyone with whom you share a bank account. Tell them how attached you were to that pair of wheels, how much you regret their passing, and how you're sure the new pair, despite being advertised heavily and used by your racing heroes, won't be nearly as good despite being 10 per cent lighter and 400 per cent more expensive.

Some components are easier to judge than others. Rims often have ‘wear-holes' to indicate when they've become too worn to be safe. Chains can be measured for ‘stretch'. Sprockets and chainrings acquire a ‘shark-fin' shape. This is unfortunate, since they generally wear out long after you'd like to have treated yourself to something new.

Happily it's much more difficult to definitively judge more expensive items. Frames can grow less stiff over time (they don't really, but it's a myth we've spent years working on, so don't spoil it). In general, the more scuffed the paintwork, the less stiff the frame.

The launch of a new model of bike or frame automatically generates wear on all examples of the old model. Thus it's quite possible for a bike to suffer considerable wear and tear without ever actually being ridden.
Carbon frames ought to be replaced after any severe incident. The older they are, the smaller the trauma they can sustain. By the time a carbon frame is two years old, it can be damaged beyond economic repair by a mate saying, "Blimey, are you still riding that old thing?"

Acts of cycling stupidity
Our attention here at AoCS has been drawn to a photo shoot for a feature in this very magazine, published some months ago. Due to a series of unfortunate events, the star rider in question (one of Team Sky's Classics heroes) ended up with two punctured wheels, and no means of fixing them.
The quick-thinking photographer solved the problem by taking lots of shots of him from a low angle riding through long grass.

"Everyone thought the shots were great," the photographer said, "much more artistic than usual. I don't think anyone suspected a thing. And you're absolutely not allowed to tell anyone about this."

This article was first published in the May 16 issue of Cycling Weekly. Read Cycling Weekly magazine on the day of release where ever you are in the world International digital edition, UK digital edition. And if you like us, rate us!

Just when you think things can't get any worse, down comes the snow. Last week I bemoaned the atrocious weather at the Giro d'Italia but it seems I had only witnessed a prelude to the mayhem that was to come.

Bike racing revels in adversity but the past three weeks in Italy have bordered on farce. I've never known riders having to endure such cold and wet conditions for quite so long, prompting Fabian Cancellara to tweet: "This is not healthy and has nothing to do with sport."

Italy's worst spring for 25 years affected the four biggest mountain stages. Three were cut short and one cancelled due to snow, ice and avalanches.

Only the summit finish of Saturday's penultimate stage could be salvaged, with windchill temperatures expected to drop to minus 20 degrees.

As Mark Cavendish tweeted: "I remember waking up excited to see snow. Then I became a cyclist. Now I wake up to snow and have to see if I'm excited or not."

With five stage wins and the red jersey, this most difficult Giro has been Cav's most successful yet.
After his top 10 finish in the snow-hit Milan-San Remo at the start of this season, it further endorses the Manxman's reputation for gutsy riding.

And he's climbing better than ever, too - even in the snow. Mark Cavendish is going to be a very tough man to beat in this year's Tour de France.

This article was first published in the May 30 issue of Cycling Weekly. Read Cycling Weekly magazine on the day of release where ever you are in the world International digital edition, UK digital edition. And if you like us, rate us!

Our Giro columnist Charly Wegelius reflects on a tough Giro d'Italia with Garmin Sharp

Finally the Giro has drawn to a close, and I think that there were plenty of sighs of relief amongst the riders, but also from staff members. It has been a long, tough Giro for everyone. Beyond the 3,500km ridden by the riders, the cars and buses racked up an additional 3,200km of transfers.

This is a constant complaint from teams and riders, and without a doubt is one of the factors that makes these events a real challenge for everyone involved. Like most things, this issue is not as black and white as it may seem. I'm quite sure that the organizers would be as happy as we would to have each stage start within a few minutes drive of the previous finish.

The reality of putting together an event of this size, especially in such a bleak economic climate, is quite different. At the end of the day the books have to balance, and if that means everyone has to get up early and drive 100km to start the race in the parking lot of an enthusiastic factory owner, then that is precisely what is going to happen.

The organizer also has to find exciting and challenging routes, timing the mountain stages over the weekends to ensure the best audiences. I do not envy them one little bit, and to some extent they are doomed to be criticized by some part of the sport or another.

Aside from the start in Denmark, which was covered by a totally different set of vehicles and staff, last years Giro was actually rather kind on the riders. But I also remember reading some criticism from the Italian media that the race had been bland and uninteresting. So where does the balance lie? Too many mountains and the race is smothered, too few and the race is boring.

In my opinion the priority has to be with the riders wellbeing. They are the protagonists of the show, and surely the only way to ensure an exciting racing is to have athletes that have at least had a good nights sleep.

At times the double combinations of long pre-race transfers, 250km stages, and evening transfers boarder on the ludicrous. Bear in mind that a 20:30 arrival of a team at the hotel means that when massage is done the riders can hope to eat at 22:00. Not to mention the poor mechanics and masseurs, who can be regularly working until past 23:30.

In an ideal world I would like to see the winner decided on the road, but I have a feeling that the wearing down process of constant transfers and late nights contributes to the process of elimination.

Some riders take these obstacles in their stride, while others suffer terribly with it. Two riders on our team that spring to mind are Tyler Farrar and Ramunas Navardauskas. Both have an amazing ability to sleep almost on command, and both have taken possession of the darker, quiet back section of the bus, making it into a kind of den where they can catch forty winks while the other riders chatter and listen to music. 

Barely minutes before the TTT in Ischia, for example, I wanted to have a final meeting with the riders to go over our plans. I only counted 8 heads, and eventually the puzzle was solved when Ramunas was found fast asleep in his cave at the back of the bus. Literally ten minutes earlier he had been on his bike doing the recon of the course.

What will the future bring? I am something of a pessimist, and I cannot imagine a reality in which Cycling will go back to point to point racing with almost no transfers. So the other option I see is that wealthier teams will begin to invest in infrastructure to cope with the transfers. Perhaps a "Sleeper Bus" with small rooms for the riders so they can sleep on the go and skip the hotel all together?

Read Cycling Weekly magazine on the day of release where ever you are in the world International digital edition, UK digital edition. And if you like us, rate us!